Hexagram 11: Tài (Peace)
地天泰 · 第 11 卦 · Earth over Heaven · 中文版
The Judgment
In Tai (we see) the little gone and the great come. (It indicates that) there will be good fortune, with progress and success.
泰：小往大来，吉亨。
Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)
'The little come and the great gone in Tai, and its indication that there will be good fortune with progress and success' show to us heaven and earth in communication with each other, and all things in consequence having free course, and (also) the high and the low, (superiors and inferiors), in communication with one another, and possessed by the same aim. The inner (trigram) is made up of the strong and undivided lines, and the outer of the weak and divided; the inner is (the symbol of) strength, and the outer of docility; the inner (represents) the superior man, and the outer the small man. (Thus) the way of the superior man appears increasing, and that of the small man decreasing.
彖曰：泰，小往大来，吉亨。则是天地交而万物通也，上下交而其志同也。内阳而外阴，内健而外顺，内君子而外小人，君子道长，小人道消也。
The Great Image
(The trigrams for) heaven and earth in communication together form Tai. The (sage) sovereign, in harmony with this, fashions and completes (his regulations) after the courses of heaven and earth, and assists the application of the adaptations furnished by them, - in order to benefit the people.
象曰：天地交，泰；后以财成天地之道，辅相天地之宜，以左右民。
The six lines
Line 1 (first): The first NINE, undivided, suggests the idea of grass pulled up, and bringing with it other stalks with whose roots it is connected. Advance (on the part of its subject) will be fortunate.
'The good fortune of advance, (as suggested by the emblem of) the grass pulled up,' arises from the will (of the party intended) being set on what is external to himself.
In plain words: Pulling up couch grass, its roots come up together with others of its kind; setting out brings good fortune. The lower three lines of Tai are all yang: when the first moves, the second and third rise with it, like worthy people drawing one another forward. The Small Image says its aim is outward, toward advancing.
初九：拔茅茹，以其汇，征吉。 象曰：拔茅征吉，志在外也。
Line 2 (second): The second NINE, undivided, shows one who can bear with the uncultivated, will cross the He without a boat, does not forget the distant, and has no (selfish) friendships. Thus does he prove himself acting in accordance with the course of the due Mean.
'He bears with the uncultivated, and proves himself acting in accordance with the due mean:' - for (his intelligence is) bright and (his capacity is) great.
In plain words: Bearing with the uncultivated, crossing the river on foot, not neglecting those far away, forming no cliques: so one keeps in step with the middle way. Crossing on foot, without a boat, stands for resolve; forming no cliques means not favouring one's own faction. The second line is strong and central and corresponds to the fifth; it is the main line for governing a time of peace. The Small Image calls this bright and great.
九二：包荒，用冯河，不遐遗，朋亡，得尚于中行。 象曰：包荒得尚于中行，以光大也。
Line 3 (third): The third NINE, undivided, shows that, while there is no state of peace that is not liable to be disturbed, and no departure (of evil men) so that they shall not return, yet when one is firm and correct, as he realises the distresses that may arise, he will commit no error. There is no occasion for sadness at the certainty (of such recurring changes); and in this mood the happiness (of the present) may be (long) enjoyed.
'There is no going away so that there shall not be a return' refers to this as the point where the interaction of heaven and earth takes place.
In plain words: There is no level ground that does not slope, no going out without a return; being steadfast in hardship, there is no fault. Do not worry: keep faith and there will be blessings to enjoy. The third line is at the end of the lower trigram: peace is past its midpoint, and fullness is about to turn. The Small Image says this is where heaven and earth meet.
九三：无平不陂，无往不复，艰贞无咎。勿恤其孚，于食有福。 象曰：无往不复，天地际也。
Line 4 (fourth): The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject fluttering (down) - not relying on his own rich resources, but calling in his neighbours. (They all come) not as having received warning, but in the sincerity (of their hearts).
'He comes fluttering (down), not relying on his own rich resources:' - both he and his neighbours are out of their real (place where they are). 'They have not received warning, but (come) in the sincerity (of their hearts):' - this is what they have desired in the core of their hearts.
In plain words: Fluttering down, not relying on wealth, it brings its neighbours along; without being warned, they act in good faith. The fourth line is the first of the upper trigram, whose three lines are all yin, "empty", hence "not wealthy"; the three yin lines come down together to meet the yang. The Small Image says none of them relies on substance, and their good faith without warning comes from the heart.
六四：翩翩不富，以其邻，不戒以孚。 象曰：翩翩不富，皆失实也。不戒以孚，中心愿也。
Line 5 (fifth): The fifth six, divided, reminds us of (king) Di-yi's (rule about the) marriage of his younger sister. By such a course there is happiness and there will be great good fortune.
'By such a course there is happiness, and there will be great good fortune:' - (the subject of the line) employs the virtue proper to his central position to carry his wishes into effect.
In plain words: King Di Yi gives his younger sister in marriage; this brings blessings and supreme good fortune. Di Yi was a king of the Shang. The fifth line is yielding in the place of honour and corresponds to the second below: the honoured one yields to the humble, and so blessings come. The Small Image says it keeps to the middle to fulfil its wishes.
六五：帝乙归妹，以祉元吉。 象曰：以祉元吉，中以行愿也。
Line 6 (sixth (top)): The sixth six, divided, shows us the city wall returned into the moat. It is not the time to use the army. (The subject of the line) may, indeed, announce his orders to the people of his own city; but however correct and firm he may be, he will have cause for regret.
'The city wall returned back into the moat' shows how the (governmental) orders have (long) been in disorder.
In plain words: The city wall falls back into the moat; do not use the army. Issue orders only within one's own town; holding on brings regret. The moat is the dry ditch from which the wall's earth was dug: the wall collapsing into it pictures peace at its end turning into stagnation. The Small Image says the wall has fallen because orders have fallen into disorder.
上六：城复于隍，勿用师。自邑告命，贞吝。 象曰：城复于隍，其命乱也。
Line positions
4 of the six lines stand in their proper place (strong lines in odd places, weak lines in even places).
The second and fifth lines hold the central places of the lower and upper trigrams; being one strong and one weak, they correspond.
Of the three pairs of corresponding places (first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top), 3 pairs are made of one strong and one weak line.
| Line | Proper place | Central | Corresponds with |
|---|---|---|---|
| top (weak) | yes | — | 3rd line: yes |
| 5th (weak) | — | yes | 2nd line: yes |
| 4th (weak) | yes | — | 1st line: yes |
| 3rd (strong) | yes | — | top line: yes |
| 2nd (strong) | — | yes | 5th line: yes |
| 1st (strong) | yes | — | 4th line: yes |
Strong lines belong in odd places and weak lines in even places; the second and fifth are the central places; first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top correspond, and they "respond" when one is strong and the other weak.
These are structural conventions, not scores of good or bad fortune. Commentators differ: Wang Bi treats the first and top places as beginning and end without fixed yin or yang positions. Read each line with its Small Image and the whole hexagram.
Place in Jing Fang's eight palaces
Jing Fang grouped the 64 hexagrams into eight "palaces" of eight, each headed by a doubled trigram. Changing the lines of the head hexagram one by one from the bottom gives the next five; the last two are the "wandering soul" and "returning soul" hexagrams. The Kun palace runs: Kūn (head), Fù (1st change), Lín (2nd change), Tài (3rd change), Dà Zhuàng (4th change), Guài (5th change), Xū (wandering soul), Bǐ (returning soul).
The twelve waxing and waning hexagrams
This is one of the twelve "waxing and waning" hexagrams, matched to the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The series starts from Fu, with one strong line returning at the bottom, grows to Qian, then gives way to weak lines until Kun, tracing the rise and fall of yang through the year; it belongs to the Han-dynasty gua qi system of Meng Xi and Jing Fang.
A recorded case from Takashima
Tai to Ming Yi: reclaiming marshland in Hitachi: A Tokyo friend wanted to reclaim marshland in Hitachi and received the second line of Tai, "embracing the wild; fording the river". Takashima read it as buying waste land and working hard on drainage, and went on to argue that the rich do better to put their money into land others can farm than to leave heirs living idle.
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English text: James Legge, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16, 1882), public domain, as transcribed by the Chinese Text Project. Chinese: the received text. Offered for study and reflection, not as prediction.