Hexagram 31 of 64
咸 Xián · Influence
上 兌 Lake (Duì) over 下 艮 Mountain (Gèn)
Feel first; explain after.
Judgment
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, judgment. English translation in preparation.
Image
In short: a lake upon the mountain.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, Great Image. Short gloss by Koyonari; full translation in preparation.
Commentary
Xián is a lake reposing atop a high mountain, the moisture soaking gently into the rock; resonance stirs long before words are spoken. Xián teaches feeling first, explaining later—preserve that fresh stir of feeling right now, without rushing to invent justifications. Reasons can always be supplied afterward, but that spark of feeling fades if missed in the passing moment.
Koyonari commentary.
The Six Lines
“Influence on the big toe.” The response begins in the big toe. Xián means responding to an influence, and mǔ here refers to the big toe. The first yin line lies at the hexagram’s bottom. Its image of the big toe means that the response has just begun and has not yet developed into noticeable action.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 1. Koyonari translation.
“Influence in the toe: intention aims outward.” Sensation only in the big toe shows that the mind already turns outward.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 2. Koyonari translation.
“Influence on the calves; misfortune. Remaining still brings good fortune.” The response reaches the calf. Rushing to act upon it brings misfortune, meaning an unfavorable outcome; staying quietly in place without rash movement brings good fortune, meaning a favorable outcome. Féi means the calf. This line contrasts restless movement with remaining settled, emphasizing the avoidance of a hasty response.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 3. Koyonari translation.
“Though misfortune looms, staying brings fortune: following calmness avoids harm.” Though misfortune threatens, remaining still brings good fortune; following peaceful dwelling avoids harm.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 4. Koyonari translation.
“Influence on the thighs; clinging to who is followed; to go forward brings distress.” The response reaches the thighs, yet action is driven solely by an insistence on following others. Gǔ means the thighs; clinging to following means blindly complying, without independent judgment. Going forward in this way brings humiliation, leaving shame and regret. Both the response and the action lack a viewpoint of one's own.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 5. Koyonari translation.
“Influence in thighs, unable to stay: following others is base.” Resonating in the thighs gives no rest; the mind is set on following others, and what it holds to is too lowly.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 6. Koyonari translation.
“Steadfastness brings good fortune and remorse disappears. If wavering back and forth, only specific friends follow your thoughts.” Steadfastness means holding to what is right. This brings good fortune, a favorable outcome, and makes regret disappear. If thoughts keep wavering while one constantly plans how to move others, only friends whose thinking agrees with those plans will follow. The warning is that deliberately seeking a response limits the scope of that response.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 7. Koyonari translation.
“Steadfastness brings good fortune and remorse disappears: one is not affected by harm. Restlessly wavering to and fro: it is not yet great and radiant.” Holding steadfastly to what is right brings good fortune and dissolves remorse because one's intentions are upright and unharmed by perverse private desires; if the mind wavers incessantly with restless thoughts flitting back and forth, the scope of influence lacks openness and radiance.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 8. Koyonari translation.
“Influence on the spine along the back; no remorse.” The response falls on the flesh of the back. Méi means back flesh, behind the heart, unable to respond to external things as the heart does. No regret means having no remorse. Zhū Xī explains that there are no selfish attachments, so no regret arises. Wáng Bì instead sees shallow aims and a narrow response, merely falling short of grounds for regret.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 9. Koyonari translation.
“Influence in the back: shallow intention.” Sensation in the back meat shows the intention remains on petty, superficial levels.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 10. Koyonari translation.
“Influence on the jaws, cheeks, and tongue.” The response appears only in the cheekbones, cheeks and tongue. Fǔ here refers to the bones beside the cheeks; these, the cheeks and the tongue all move during speech. The top yin line uses the mouth as its image, indicating an attempt to move others through words alone, with the response remaining at the level of speech.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 11. Koyonari translation.
“Influence in jaws, cheeks, and tongue: fluttering words from the mouth.” Influence merely moves jaws, cheeks, and tongue, amounting to empty flapping of speech.
Zhouyi, hexagram 31, line 12. Koyonari translation.