Hexagram 50: Dǐng (The Cauldron)

The Judgment

Ding gives the intimation of great progress and success.

鼎：元吉，亨。

Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)

In Ding we have (symbolically) the figure of a caldron. (We see) the (symbol of) wood entering into that of fire, which suggests the idea of cooking. The sages cooked their offerings in order to present them to God, and made great feasts to nourish their wise and able (ministers). We have the symbol of) flexible obedience, and that (which denotes) ears quick of hearing and eyes clear-sighted. (We have also) the weak (line) advanced and acting above, in the central place, and responded to by the strong (line below). All these things give the idea of 'great progress and success.'

彖曰：鼎，象也。以木巽火，亨饪也。圣人亨以享上帝，而大亨以养圣贤。巽而耳目聪明，柔进而上行，得中而应乎刚，是以元亨。

The Great Image

(The trigram representing) wood and above it that for fire form Ding. The superior man, in accordance with this, keeps his every position correct, and maintains secure the appointment (of Heaven).

象曰：木上有火，鼎；君子以正位凝命。

The six lines

1. Line 1 (first): The first SIX, divided, shows the caldron overthrown and its feet turned up. (But) there will be advantage in its getting rid of what was bad in it. (Or it shows us) the concubine (whose position is improved) by means of her son. There will be no error.

   'The caldron is overturned, and its feet turned upwards:' - but this is not (all) contrary (to what is right). 'There will be advantage in getting rid of what was bad:' - thereby (the subject of the line) will follow the more noble (subject of the fourth line).

   In plain words: The cauldron is turned upside down; it is favourable to empty out what is spoiled; like taking a concubine for the sake of her son, there is no fault. The first line is the cauldron's feet at the bottom; turning it over is just the way to clear out old matter, turning bad to good. The Small Image says turning it over does not go against the way, and emptying out what is spoiled is in order to follow what is noble.

   初六：鼎颠趾，利出否，得妾以其子，无咎。 象曰：鼎颠趾，未悖也。利出否，以从贵也。

2. Line 2 (second): The second NINE, undivided, shows the caldron with the things (to be cooked) in it. (If its subject can say), 'My enemy dislikes me, but he cannot approach me,' there will be good fortune.

   'There is the caldron with the things (to be cooked) in it:' - let (the subject of the line) be careful where he goes. 'My enemy dislikes me:' - but there will in the end be no fault (to which he can point).

   In plain words: The cauldron holds food; my rival is ill and cannot come near me: good fortune. The rival is the first line. The second line is strong and central, with something solid in its cauldron, and must guard it carefully so as not to be dragged down by the first line. The Small Image says it must be careful where its contents go, and in the end there is no fault.

   九二：鼎有实，我仇有疾，不我能即，吉。 象曰：鼎有实，慎所之也。我仇有疾，终无尤也。

3. Line 3 (third): The third NINE, undivided, shows the caldron with (the places of) its ears changed. The progress (of its subject) is (thus) stopped. The fat flesh of the pheasant (which is in the caldron) will not be eaten. But the (genial) rain will come, and the grounds for repentance will disappear. There will be good fortune in the end.

   'There is the caldron with (the places for) its ears changed:' - (its subject) has failed in what was required of him (in his situation).

   In plain words: The cauldron's handles are changed and it cannot be moved; the rich pheasant fat is not eaten; when the rain comes, regret lessens, and in the end there is good fortune. The handles, where the cauldron is lifted, stand for the fifth line. The third line is strong but not central and does not correspond to the fifth: it has talent but is not used. The Small Image says the changed handles have lost their purpose.

   九三：鼎耳革，其行塞，雉膏不食，方雨亏悔，终吉。 象曰：鼎耳革，失其义也。

4. Line 4 (fourth): The fourth NINE, undivided, shows the caldron with its feet broken; and its contents, designed for the ruler's use, overturned and spilt. Its Subject will be made to blush for shame. There will be evil.

   'The contents designed for the ruler's use are overturned and spilt:' - how can (the subject of the line) be trusted?

   In plain words: The cauldron's leg breaks, the duke's meal is spilled, and one is covered in it: misfortune. The fourth line is in the minister's place but relies on the unsuitable first line and is not equal to its task. The Great Commentary says: weak virtue in a high place, little knowledge with great plans, little strength with heavy duties; few escape disaster. The Small Image asks: when the duke's meal is spilled, what becomes of trust?

   九四：鼎折足，覆公餗，其形渥，凶。 象曰：覆公餗，信如何也。

5. Line 5 (fifth): The fifth six, divided, shows the caldron with yellow ears and rings of metal in them. There will be advantage through being firm and correct.

   'The caldron has yellow ears:' - the central position (of the line) is taken as (a proof of) the solid (virtue of its subject).

   In plain words: The cauldron has yellow handles and a golden carrying bar: it is favourable to be steadfast. The fifth line is yielding and central in the place of honour: empty at the centre, it can receive what is solid. The Small Image says it takes the middle as its substance.

   六五：鼎黄耳金铉，利贞。 象曰：鼎黄耳，中以为实也。

6. Line 6 (sixth (top)): The sixth NINE, undivided, shows the caldron with rings of jade. There will be great good fortune, and all action taken will be in every way advantageous.

   'The rings of jade' are at the very top: - the strong and the weak meet in their due proportions.

   In plain words: The cauldron has a carrying bar of jade: great good fortune, nothing unfavourable. Jade is warm yet hard, a picture of firm and gentle together. The top line is the end of the hexagram: firm but able to be gentle, the cauldron's work is complete. The Small Image says firm and gentle are in measured balance.

   上九：鼎玉铉，大吉，无不利。 象曰：玉铉在上，刚柔节也。

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 Li palace runs: Lí (head), Lǚ (1st change), Dǐng (2nd change), Wèi Jì (3rd change), Méng (4th change), Huàn (5th change), Sòng (wandering soul), Tóng Rén (returning soul).

A recorded case from Takashima

Ding to Gou: the cauldron's handles, and knowing how to lift it: A merchant asked about his fortunes and received the fifth line of Ding, "the cauldron has yellow handles and a bronze carrying bar; steadfastness pays". Takashima said a cauldron with handles can only be lifted once a bar is passed through them, just as a profitable business yields only to someone who knows the method; yellow handles and a bronze bar are precious things, so the profits would be rich.

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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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