I am Zheng Hongpeng, the president of the Xi County branch of Fan Deng Reading Club. One article a day, No. 129.
Jie hexagram is the sixtieth hexagram. The traditional Chinese character for "Jie" is "Jie". The prefix "Zhu" means "bamboo festival" and "moderation". "Shuowen Jiezi" states: "Jie" refers to bamboo covenant. Also. "The bamboo joints are used for restraint. The Jie hexagram is after the Huan hexagram, and "Huan" means dispersion and separation. Things cannot be separated forever, and they must be controlled. Therefore, the Jie hexagram is just the inversion of the Huan hexagram, which is the water festival, with water above and marsh below. The whole hexagram is like the water in the swamp being restricted by the fence around the swamp, so that the water cannot overflow, which means moderation.
The oracle bone inscriptions with the word "Jie" resemble the shape of a person kneeling down. This is a kind of ceremony of kneeling and worshiping by the ancients, so the festival later became etiquette and was connected with etiquette, which is what Confucianism calls the Wuchang. The "propriety" of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trust. "The Analects of Confucius·Xueer": "Knowing harmony and making peace without using etiquette is not feasible." Knowing harmony but not being able to control it according to etiquette is also unworkable. "Book of Rites: Qu Lishang" says that "rituals should not exceed the festival", and etiquette cannot violate the principle of moderation, which means that everything must start from etiquette, and etiquette comes from moderation, so the festival hexagram actually talks about: The Way of Temperance.
Let’s take a look at the hexagrams first: Festival, prosperity, bitter festival cannot be chaste.
Jie Gua is prosperous, but if you are too restrained, you will not be able to maintain the right path.
The biggest difference between humans and animals is that humans know etiquette, know how to control and stop, and "stop when you are in love with etiquette"; but if you are overly restrained, it is not advisable. The "bitter festival" here refers to excessive control. Therefore, moderation is a moderate adjustment. If it exceeds the limit of moderation, it becomes a "bitter festival" and people will suffer. This is not feasible. The opposite of "Bitter Festival" is "Gan Festival", and the line of the Nine-Five Yao is "Gan Festival": sweet and joyful moderation.
What exactly is moderation? Control your own desires, behaviors, and the property you enjoy. If you control your property too much, it is called stinginess. I think of the story of Yan Jiansheng recorded in "The Scholars": When Yan Jiansheng died, he stretched out two fingers and kept his eyes wide open. No matter what his family said, he still kept his eyes wide open. Eyes, just don't put down your fingers, don't close your eyes. At this time, his wife understood immediately and said immediately: "Do you mean there are still two wicks burning in the lamp?" Then she put out one wick, and Yan Jiansheng died immediately. This is called a "bitter festival". It is too stingy and is not advisable. Therefore, the Jie hexagram tells us how to exercise appropriate and moderate moderation.
"彖传" explains:
彖 said: Jie, Heng, hardness and softness are divided and hardness is achieved. You can't be chaste in a bitter festival, and the way is poor. Speaking is to take risks, being in position is to be disciplined, and being upright is to pass. The heaven and earth are in harmony with the four seasons, and the order is based on the system, which does not harm the wealth or the people.
“Jie, prosperity, hardness and softness are divided and hardness is achieved”: Why does the festival hexagram prosper? Because strength and suppleness are distinguished, and the Yang Yao is in the middle. This is from the perspective of hexagram changes, because the Jie hexagram is derived from the Tai hexagram: the Tai hexagram has three Yang Yao in the lower position and three Yin Yao in the upper position. After it becomes the Jie hexagram, ninety-three of the three strong Yao are The Yao rose to the fifth position and became the Ninety-Five Yao of the Jie Gua, clustered together with the Rou Yao (Yin Yao); the Sixty-Five Yao among the three Yin Yao dropped to the third place and became the Sixty-three Yao of the Jie Gua. Yao, and Gang Yao live together. Therefore, the result of the separation is that the masculine Yao and the feminine Yao are mixed together, and the two middle positions (the second Yao and the fifth Yao) are both strong Yao. This is when the masculine is in the middle and has achieved the middle way, indicating moderation. We must abide by the mean, not too much or too little. At the same time, the separation of hardness and softness also means that etiquette is formulated from the lives of men and women, is in line with human ethics, and is appropriate.
“You cannot be chaste if you are in a bitter festival, and the way is poor.”: Excessive moderation cannot keep the right path, because the way forward is already poor. It shows that if the moderation is too much, things will turn to the extreme, and everyone must rise up to oppose this kind of moderation. What needs to be done?
"Speak to practice danger, be in position to be restrained, and be right in order to achieve success.": You must exercise restraint with joy, exercise restraint at the appropriate time, and follow the right path to achieve success. "Shuo" (joy) refers to the Dui hexagram of the lower hexagram, because the Dui hexagram governs joy; and "risk" refers to the Kan hexagram of the upper hexagram, and Kan refers to danger. This is a call for everyone to be restrained joyfully and from the heart. , this is the "Gan Festival" mentioned in the 95th Yao, which will help mobilize everyone's enthusiasm to overcome difficulties and obstacles.
“The heaven and earth are regulated by the four seasons, and the regulation is based on the system, which does not harm wealth or harm the people”: Heaven and earth are regulated, and the cycle of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter is formed by this, and is formulated according to etiquette. With rules and regulations, money will not be wasted and people will not be harmed. This sentence is from the way of heaven to the way of humanity. The way of heaven must be controlled to form the four seasons, and the way of humanity must be controlled in order to protect the people and gather wealth.
Explanation of "Xiang Zhuan":
Xiang said: There is water on the lake, which is a festival. A gentleman uses systems to measure and discuss virtue.
"There is water on the swamp, Jie": The hexagram of the Jie hexagram is that there is water on the swamp, that is, the water flows in the swamp. The swamp has a controlling effect on the water. This is what we are talking about today" "Save water", how can we save water? First of all, it must be collected into ponds and swamps, just like surrounding the swamp with a dam to restrict it, so that the water will not be wasted. This is the hexagram of moderation. "A gentleman uses the system to measure and discuss virtues." A gentleman should formulate etiquette (etiquette) according to the hexagrams of the Jie hexagram, and also evaluate virtues. The former is biased towards law and the latter is biased towards virtue. Law and morality are complementary to each other. They are both a kind of code used to regulate and control people's behavior. Only in this way can the whole society be orderly and people can live and work in peace and contentment.