Hexagram 40: Xiè (Deliverance)

The Judgment

In (the state indicated by) Jie advantage will be found in the south-west. If no (further) operations be called for, there will be good fortune in coming back (to the old conditions). If some operations be called for, there will be good fortune in the early conducting of them.

解：利西南，无所往，其来复吉。有攸往，夙吉。

Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)

In Jie we have (the trigram expressive of) peril going on to that expressive of movement. By movement there is an escape from the peril: - (this is the meaning of) Jie. 'In (the state indicated by) Jie, advantage will be found in the south-west:' - the movement (thus) intimated will win all. That 'there will be good fortune in coming back (to the old conditions)' shows that such action is that of the due medium. That 'if some operations be necessary, there will be good fortune in the early conducting of them' shows that such operations will be successful. When heaven and earth are freed (from the grasp of winter), we have thunder and rain. When these come, the buds of the plants and trees that produce the various fruits begin to burst. Great indeed are the phenomena in the time intimated by Jie.

彖曰：解，险以动，动而免乎险，解。解利西南，往得众也。其来复吉，乃得中也。有攸往夙吉，往有功也。天地解而雷雨作，雷雨作而百果草木皆甲坼，解之时义大矣哉！

The Great Image

(The trigram representing) thunder and that for rain, with these phenomena in a state of manifestation, form Jie. The superior man, in accordance with this, forgives errors, and deals gently with crimes.

象曰：雷雨作，解；君子以赦过宥罪。

The six lines

1. Line 1 (first): The first SIX, divided, shows that its subject will commit no error.

   The strong (fourth) line and the weak line here are in correlation: - we judge rightly in saying that 'its subject will commit no error.'

   In plain words: No fault. The first line is the start of deliverance: the difficulty has just been lifted. It is yielding at the bottom and corresponds to the fourth, firm and yielding meeting, so there is no fault. The Small Image says at the meeting of firm and yielding, there is in principle no fault.

   初六：无咎。 象曰：刚柔之际，义无咎也。

2. Line 2 (second): The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject catch, in hunting, three foxes, and obtain the yellow (= golden) arrows. With firm correctness there will be good fortune.

   'The good fortune springing from the firm correctness of the second NINE, (undivided),' is due to its subject holding the due mean.

   In plain words: In the field one catches three foxes and gets a yellow arrow: steadfastness brings good fortune. The foxes stand for petty people or hidden dangers; yellow is the colour of the centre, and the arrow stands for straightness. The second line is strong and central, corresponds to the fifth, and removes hidden dangers without losing its balance. The Small Image says it has found the middle way.

   九二：田获三狐，得黄矢，贞吉。 象曰：九二贞吉，得中道也。

3. Line 3 (third): The third SIX, divided, shows a porter with his burden, (yet) riding in a carriage. He will (only) tempt robbers to attack him. However firm and correct he may (try to) be, there will be cause for regret.

   For 'a porter with his burden to be riding in a carriage' is a thing to be ashamed of. 'It is he himself that tempts the robbers to come:' - on whom besides can we lay the blame? (See Appendix III, i, 48.)

   In plain words: Carrying a load yet riding in a carriage invites robbers; holding on brings regret. Someone who should be carrying loads sits in a gentleman's carriage: the mismatch invites envy. The Great Commentary says careless storing invites theft. The third line is weak, neither central nor correct, at the top of the lower trigram. The Small Image calls this shameful: one brought the attack on oneself, so whom could one blame?

   六三：负且乘，致寇至，贞吝。 象曰：负且乘，亦可丑也，自我致戎，又谁咎也。

4. Line 4 (fourth): (To the subject of) the fourth NINE, undivided, (it is said), 'Remove your toes. Friends will (then) come, between you and whom there will be mutual confidence.'

   'Remove your toes:' - the places (of this line and of the third and first) are all inappropriate to them.

   In plain words: Free yourself from your big toe; then friends will come and trust one another. The big toe stands for the first line. The fourth line is yang in a yin place and corresponds to the first; it must first shake off that tie before the friends of the noble come. The Small Image says its position is not proper.

   九四：解而拇，朋至斯孚。 象曰：解而拇，未当位也。

5. Line 5 (fifth): The fifth SIX, divided, shows (its subject), the superior man (= the ruler), executing his function of removing (whatever is injurious to the idea of the hexagram), in which case there will he good fortune, and confidence in him will be shown even by the small men.

   When 'the superior man executes his function of removing (whatever is injurious to the idea of the hexagram),' small men will of themselves retire.

   In plain words: The noble person is able to bring deliverance: good fortune; even petty people come to trust it. The fifth line is yielding and central in the place of honour, corresponds to the second, and can lift the danger. The Small Image says when the noble person brings deliverance, the petty people withdraw.

   六五：君子维有解，吉；有孚于小人。 象曰：君子有解，小人退也。

6. Line 6 (sixth (top)): In the sixth SIX, divided, we see a feudal prince (with his bow) shooting at a falcon on the top of a high wall, and hitting it. (The effect of his action) will be in every way advantageous.

   'A prince with his bow shoots a falcon:' - thus he removes (the promoters of) rebellion.

   In plain words: The duke shoots a hawk on top of a high wall and hits it: nothing is unfavourable. The hawk stands for a defiant, troublesome person. The top line is at the end of deliverance, where the last and most stubborn obstacle is removed; the Great Commentary draws from it that the noble person keeps the tool at hand and acts when the time comes. The Small Image says this is to undo the defiance.

   上六：公用射隼于高墉之上，获之，无不利。 象曰：公用射隼，以解悖也。

Line positions

1 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), 2 pairs are made of one strong and one weak line.

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 Zhen palace runs: Zhèn (head), Yù (1st change), Xiè (2nd change), Héng (3rd change), Shēng (4th change), Jǐng (5th change), Dà Guò (wandering soul), Suí (returning soul).

A recorded case from Takashima

Xie to Wei Ji: a cast before visiting a Zen master: Before visiting the Zen master Imakita Kōsen at Engaku-ji, Takashima wondered whether Zen and the Changes could meet, and cast. He drew the top line of Xie, "the duke shoots a hawk on the high wall", read the hawk as outer demons and the foxes of the second line as inner ones, and wrote a poem to take along. They talked over tea in the meditation hall, he showed the poem, and they parted laughing.

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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.

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