T'ung J^ en / Fellowship with Men
above: Ch'ien The Creative, Heaven
below: Li The Clinging, Flame
Nine in the third place means:
He hides weapons in the thicket;
He climbs the high hill in front of it.
For three years he does not rise up.
Here fellowship has changed about to mistrust. Each man distrusts the
other, plans a secret ambush, and seeks to spy on his fellow form afar.
We are dealing with an obstinate opponent whom we cannot come at by
this method. Obstacles standing in the way of fellowship with others
are shown here. One has mental reservations for one's own part and
seeks to take his opponent by surprise. This very fact makes one
mistrustful, suspecting the same wiles in his opponent and trying to
ferret them out. The result is that one departs further and further
from true fellowship. The longer this goes on, the more alienated one
becomes.