Yu / Enthusiasm
above:Ch^ en The Arousing, Thunder
below:K'un The Receptive, Earth
The strong line in the fourth place, that of the leading official, meets with response and obedience from all the other lines, which are all weak. The attribute of the upper trigram, Chên, is movement; the attributes of K'un, the lower, are obedience and devotion. This begins a movement that meets with devotion and therefore inspires enthusiasm, carrying all with it. Of great importance, furthermore, is the law of movement along the line of least resistance, which in this hexagram is enunciated as the law for natural events and for human life.
The Judgement
ENTHUSIASM. It furthers one to install helpers
And to set armies marching.
The time of ENTHUSIASM derives from the fact that there is at hand an
eminent man who is in sympathy with the spirit of the people and acts
in accord with it. Hence he finds universal and willing obedience. To
arouse enthusiasm it is necessary for a man to adjust himself and his
ordinances to the character of those whom he has to lead. The
inviolability of natural laws rests on this principle of movement along
the line of least resistance. These laws are not forces external to
things but represent the harmony of movement immanent in them. That is
why the celestial bodies do not deviate from their orbits and why all
events in nature occur with fixed regularity. It is the same with human
society: only such laws are rooted in popular sentiment can be
enforced, while laws violating this sentiment merely arouse resentment.
Again, it is enthusiasm that enables us to install helpers for the
completion of an undertaking without fear of secret opposition. It is
enthusiasm too that can unify mass movements, as in war, so that they
achieve victory.
The Image
Thunder comes resounding out of the earth:
The image of ENTHUSIASM.
Thus the ancient kings made music
In order to honor merit,
And offered it with splendor
To the Supreme Deity,
Inviting their ancestors to be present.
When, at the beginning of summer, thunder--electrical energy--comes
rushing forth from the earth again, and the first thunderstorm
refreshes nature, a prolonged state of tension is resolved. Joy and
relief make themselves felt. So too, music has power to ease tension
within the heart and to loosen the grip of obscure emotions. The
enthusiasm of the heart expresses itself involuntarily in a burst of
song, in dance and rhythmic movement of the body. From immemorial times
the inspiring effect of the invisible sound that moves all hearts, and
draws them together, has mystified mankind.
Rulers have made use of this natural taste for music; they elevated and
regulated it. Music was looked upon as something serious and holy,
designed to purify the feelings of men. It fell to music to glorify the
virtues of heroes and thus to construct a bridge to the world of the
unseen. In the temple men drew near to God with music and pantomimes
(out of this later the theater developed). Religious feeling for the
Creator of the world was united with the most sacred of human feelings,
that of reverence for the ancestors. The ancestors were invited to
these divine services as guests of the Ruler of Heaven and as
representatives of humanity in the higher regions. This uniting of the
human past with the Divinity in solemn moments of religious inspiration
established the bond between God and man. The ruler who revered the
Divinity in revering his ancestors became thereby the Son of Heaven, in
whom the heavenly and the earthly world met in mystical contact.
These ideas are the final summation of Chinese culture. Confucius has
said of the great sacrifice at which these rites were performed: "He
who could wholly comprehend this sacrifice could rule the world as
though it were spinning on his hand."