22 November 2014
Hexagram 07, Judgment
貞丈人吉. 無咎. Zhangren 丈人: in early times a respectful form of address for elder people (古時對老人的尊稱). There is difference between the pattern X貞吉 (like in the Judgment of hexagram 2) and 貞X吉…
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Translation Notes
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Translation Notes
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3 October 2014
Hexagram 06, line 5 & 6
line 5 訟元吉. Disputing. Greatly auspicious. line 6 或錫之鞶帶.終朝三褫之. Huo 或: ‘there is’, see H1-4 Xi 錫: ‘to grant, to bestow’ (賜予) Pan 鞶: a large waistband, belt, or girdle made of leather, used…
Read article →24 September 2014
Hexagram 06, line 4
不克訟. 復即命渝.安貞: 吉. 不克訟: see line 2. Fu 復: return Jiming 即命: follow the royal decrees (遵從王命) Yu 渝: In its ordinary meaning it means ‘change’, but I could not make this fit the…
Read article →22 August 2014
Hexagram 06, line 3
食舊德, 貞厲 終吉, 或從王事, 无成. Shi 食: to ‘eat it’ – to speak about it but not putting it into practice (謂言已出而反吞之，不實行). Jiude 舊德: the virtues and good deeds of the former kings…
Read article →3 August 2014
Hexagram 06, line 2
不克訟.歸而逋其邑人. 三百戶.無眚. Buke 不克: unable to win (the fight or battle – 不能戰勝) Song 訟: dispute, lawsuit, accusation Gui 歸: return, go back. Also loan for kui 愧, ‘ashamed’ Bu 逋: flee, run away Yiren 邑人: the people…
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30 July 2014
Hexagram 06, Judgment
有孚.窒惕.中吉.終凶.利見大人.不利涉大川. About you fu 有孚 see here. 窒惕: Many assume that zhiti 窒惕 forms a fixed phrase, and I follow that same route although this is by no means an established fact –…
Read article →24 May 2014
Hexagram 05, line 5 & 6
line 5 需于酒食.貞吉. Waiting with wine and food. The divination is auspicious. line 6 入于穴. 有不速之客三人來敬之. 終吉. Ru 入: in old texts often used with the meaning of ‘to accept’ (taxes, tribute…
Read article →21 May 2014
Hexagram 05, line 4
需于血.出自穴. Xue 血: loan for xue 洫, the irrigation ditches between fields; a small water channel. (古代漢語通假字大字典, p. 769) 鄒漢勳 Zou Hanxun (1805 – 1854) also follows this hypothesis, arguing that the fourth…
Read article →10 May 2014
Hexagram 05, line 3
需于泥致寇至. Ni 泥: mud. The Shanghai Museum MS has ni 坭 which is a known variant of 泥. The character also means ‘to be obstructed, to be held up’, like being stuck in the mud.…
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9 May 2014
Hexagram 05, line 2
需于沙. 小有言. 終吉. Sha 沙: the sandy river shore. Lu Deming’s 陸德明 Jingdian Shiwen 經典釋文 says that Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 used zhi 沚, ‘islet’. The Shanghai Museum MSS has . The 古文字通假字典 says that is a known variant of 沙…
Read article →4 May 2014
Hexagram 05, line 1
需于郊.利用恆.無咎. Jiao 郊: general reference to the area outside the city, the open country. The Shanghai Museum MSS has hao 蒿, which in several texts is used as a loan for jiao (古文字通假字典, p. 158).…
Read article →2 May 2014
Hexagram 05, Judgment
Name Xu 需: hesitate, wait and see (觀望). Some translators translate it as ‘to want, to need’ (需要) but this meaning is relatively young (starting with Northern Qi dynasty (550-577) ). Judgment 有孚.光亨貞吉.利涉大川.…
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