The 64 Hexagrams / 11
Hexagram 11 · ䷊
Peace
泰 · Tài
Upper Earth 坤Lower Heaven 乾
The Judgment · 卦辭
小往大來,吉亨。
In Thâi (we see) the little gone and the great come. (It indicates that) there will be good fortune, with progress and success.
The Image · 大象
天地交,泰;后以財成天地之道,輔相天地之宜,以左右民。
(The trigrams for) heaven and earth in communication together form Thâi. 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.
Plain-English Meaning
A time of peace and flow. Heaven and earth meet; cooperation and growth come naturally.
The Judgment
The small departs, the great arrives: harmony brings good fortune and success.
The Image
Like heaven and earth in communion, shape and support the natural course of things.
Editorial summary written for this site; not a translation.
The Lines · 爻辭
- 初九 · Line 1拔茅茹以其彙,征吉。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.象曰:拔茅征吉,志在外也。
- 九二 · Line 2包荒。用馮河,不遐遺;朋亡。得尚于中行。The second NINE, undivided, shows one who can bear with the uncultivated, will cross the Ho 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.象曰:包荒,得尚于中行,以光大也。
- 九三 · Line 3无平不陂,无往不復,艱貞无咎。勿恤其孚,于食有福。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.象曰:无往不復,天地際也。
- 六四 · Line 4翩翩,不富以其鄰;不戒以孚。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).象曰:翩翩不富,皆失實也。不戒以孚,中心願也。
- 六五 · Line 5帝乙歸妹,以祉,元吉。The fifth six, divided, reminds us of (king) Tî-yî's (rule about the) marriage of his younger sister. By such a course there is happiness and there will be great good fortune.象曰:以祉,元吉。中以行願也。
- 上六 · Line 6城復于隍,勿用師,自邑告命,貞吝。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.象曰:城復于隍,其命亂也。
English: James Legge (1882), public domain · Text · Image (Appendix II), sacred-texts.com.