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IX The name Hsiâo Khû is interpreted as meaning 'small restraint.' The idea of 'restraint' having once been determined on as that to be conveyed by the figure, it is easily made out that the restraint must be small, for its representative is the divided line in the fourth place; and the check given by that to all the undivided lines cannot be great. Even if we suppose, as many critics do, that all the virtue of that upper trigram Sun is concentrated in its first line, the attribute ascribed to Sun is that of docile flexibility, which cannot long be successful against the strength emblemed by the lower trigram Khien. The restraint therefore is small, and in the end there will be 'progress and success.'

The second sentence of the Thwan contains indications of the place, time, and personality of the writer which it seems possible to ascertain. The fief of Kâu was the western portion of the kingdom of Yin or Shang, the China of the twelfth century B. C., the era of king Wăn. Rain coming and moistening the ground is the cause of the beauty and luxuriance of the vegetable world, and the emblem of the blessings flowing from good training and good government. Here therefore in the west, the hereditary territory of the house of Kâu, are blessings which might enrich the whole kingdom; but they are somehow restrained. The dense clouds do not empty their stores.

P. Regis says:—'To declare openly that no rain fell from the heavens long covered with dense clouds over the great tract of country, which stretched from the western border to the court and on to the eastern sea, was nothing else but leaving it to all thoughtful minds to draw the conclusion that the family of Wan was as worthy of the supreme seat as that of Shâu, the tyrant, however ancient, was unworthy of it (vol. i, p. 356).' The intimation is not put in the Text, however, so clearly as by P. Regis.

Line 1 is undivided, the first line of Khien, occupying its proper place. Its subject, therefore, notwithstanding the check of line 4, resumes his movement, and will act according to his strong nature, and go forward.

Line 2 is also strong, and though an even place is not appropriate to it, that place being central, its subject will make common cause with the subject of line 1; and there will be good fortune.

Line 3, though strong, and in a proper place, yet not being in the centre, is supposed to be less able to resist the restraint of line 4; and hence it has the ill omens that are given.

The subject of line 4, one weak line against all the strong lines of the hexagram, might well expect wounds, and feel apprehension in trying to restrain the others; but it is in its proper place; it is the first line also of Sun, whose attribute is docile flexibility. The strong lines are moved to sympathy and help, and 'there is no mistake.'

Line 5 occupies the central place of Sun, and converts, by the sincerity, of its subject, 4 and 6 into its neighbours, who suffer themselves to be used by it, and effect their common object.

In line 6, the idea of the hexagram has run its course. The harmony of nature is restored. The rain falls, and the onward march of the strong lines should now stop. But weakness that has achieved such a result, if it plume itself on it, will be in a position of peril; and like the full moon, which must henceforth wane. Let the superior man, when he has attained his end, remain in quiet.

App-1-1:IX The weak line' is said to occupy 'its proper position,' because it is in the fourth,—an even place. The 'responding' on the part of all the other lines above and below is their submitting to be restrained by it; and this arises simply from the meaning which king Wăn chose to attach to the hexagram.

But the restraint can only be small. The attributes of the two parts of the figure do not indicate anything else. The undivided line represents vigour and activity, and such a line is in the middle of each trigram. There cannot but be progress and success.

It is not easy to explain the symbolism of the last paragraph in harmony with the appended explanations. What Khăng-žze, Wang Făng, and other scholars say is to this effect:—Dense clouds ought to give rain. That they exist without doing so, shows the restraining influence of the hexagram to be still at work. But the other and active influence is, according to the general idea of the figure, continuing in operation;—there will be rain ere long. And this was taking place in the western regions subject to the House of Kâu, which still was only a fief of Shang. It was not for the inferior House to rule the superior. Kâu was for a time restrained by Shang. Let their positions be reversed by Kâu superseding Shang, and the rain of beneficent government would descend on all the kingdom. This seems to be the meaning of the paragraph. This is the answer to the riddle of it. Confucius, in his treatise on the Thwan, hints at it, but no Chinese critic has the boldness to declare it fully.

App-2-1:IX The suitability of the symbolism here is made all to turn on the wind. 'Wind,' says Kû, 'is simply the air, without solid substance; it can restrain, but not for long.' The wind moves in the sky for a time, and then ceases. The process of thought from the symbol to the lesson is not easily traced. Is it meant to say that virtue manifesting itself outwardly—in the carriage and speech—is, however good, but a small matter, admirable in an officer, or even a feudal lord, but that we look for more in a king, the Head of a nation?

Khăng-žze calls attention to the addition to the duke of Kâu's explanation in the notice on line 2, that 'it is in the central place,' adding that this explains how the subject of the line restrains himself, and does not go beyond what is due from him.

Only half of the symbolism in the Text of line 3 is taken up here. Line 1, it is said, is far from line 4, the mauvais sujet of the hexagram, and little affected by it; line 2 is nearer, but, being in the centre, suffers little; line 3 is close on it, and, not being in the centre, comes under its evil influence; while line 6 gives no help.

Line 4 is weak, and in an even place, appropriate to it; and hence its subject is said to 'have sincerity.' Being the first line, moreover, of Sun, the two others take their character from it.

Line 5, being undivided, and occupying the most important place in the figure, according to the value usually attached to the lines, is said 'to be rich,' or 'to have rich resources.' With these he unites with the 'subjects' of line 4 to effect their common object.

Under line 6 we are told that the restraint is at its height, and the restrained should keep still for a time. The paragraph is metrical. The paragraphs to lines 1, 2, 3, all rhyme together. So do those to 4, 5; and now under 6, we have a couplet:—

Lo! rain, lo! rest, the power is full!
Good man! hold hard. Obstructions rule.'