Text of Confucianism Part 02

SR No.: 007676
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: James Legge
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1882
Total Pages: 2405
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 43 MB

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THE APPENDIXES.
CHAP. 7.
Chapter VII. 11. Khien is (the symbol of) strength; Khwăn, of docility; Kăn, of stimulus to movement; Sun, of penetration; Khan, of what is precipitous and perilous; Li, of what is bright and what is catching; Kăn, of stoppage or arrest; and Tui, of pleasure and satisfaction.
heaven and earth do nothing, and yet do everything; hence they are able to perfect the spirit-like subtilty of the action of thunder, wind, and the other things. (Moreover), we have the trigram Kân mentioned, the only one mentioned by its name, instead of our reading "mountains." The reason is, that the putting in motion, the scattering, the parching, and the moistening, are all the palpable effects of thunder, wind, fire, and water. But what is ascribed to Kăn, the ending and the recommencing all things, is not so evident of mountains. On this account the name of the trigram is given, while the things in nature represented by the trigrams are given in those other cases. The style suitable in each case is employed.'
Chapter VII mentions the attributes, called also the 'virtues,' of the different trigrams. It is not easy to account for the qualities'their nature and feelings'-ascribed to them. Khung Ying-tâ says:-Khien is represented by heaven, which revolves without ceasing, and so it is the symbol of strength; Khwăn by the earth, which receives docilely the action of heaven, and so it is the symbol of docility; Kân by thunder, which excites and moves all things, and so it is the symbol of what produces movement; Sun by wind, which enters everywhere, and so it is the symbol of penetration; Khân by water, found in a place perilous and precipitous, and the name is explained accordingly; Lî by fire, and fire is sure to lay hold of things, and so it is the symbol of being attached to; Kân by a mountain, the mass of which is still and arrests progress, and so it is the symbol of stoppage or arrest; and Tui by a lake or marsh, which moistens all things, and so it is the symbol of satisfaction.'
The Khang-hsî editors consider this explanation of the qualities of the trigrams to be unsatisfactory, and certainly it has all the appearance of an ex post facto account. They prefer the views of the philosopher Shâo (of our eleventh century), which is based on the arrangement of the undivided and divided lines in the figures. This to me is more unsatisfactory than the other. The editors say,
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