Hexagram 50 of 64
鼎 Dǐng · The Cauldron
上 離 Fire (Lí) over 下 巽 Wind (Xùn)
Let it simmer well.
Judgment
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, judgment. English translation in preparation.
Image
In short: fire over wood.
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, Great Image. Short gloss by Koyonari; full translation in preparation.
Commentary
Dǐng is fire over wood: fire burning beneath the pot, ingredients transforming slowly within. Dǐng speaks of letting it simmer well: give it time, without repeatedly lifting the lid to peek. Transformation occurs while unseen; each time the lid is lifted, the heat must rebuild from scratch.
Koyonari commentary.
The Six Lines
“The cauldron turns upside down its legs: favorable for clearing out stale matter. Taking a concubine for the sake of her son: no blame.” Turning the ritual cauldron upside down, with its feet pointing upward, makes it easy to empty out filth; pǐ here means filth. Taking a concubine and having a son is another comparison: despite her low status, she can still be valued because of her offspring. The judgment is no blame, meaning no fault.
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 1. Koyonari translation.
“‘The caldron overturns its feet’: not contrary to reason. ‘Beneficial to cast out foul matter’: following what is noble.” Inverting the caldron’s feet does not defy common principle. It helps pour out accumulated refuse; ‘following what is noble’ means rejecting impurities to follow what is valuable.
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 2. Koyonari translation.
“The cauldron is filled with nourishment. My rivals are afflicted and cannot approach me: good fortune.” Food in the ritual cauldron represents one's own inner substance. The person paired with oneself is ill and cannot come near; qiú here is understood as a partner. The judgment is good fortune, meaning a favorable outcome. It indicates holding to one's principles and avoiding being burdened by the other person.
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 3. Koyonari translation.
“‘The caldron holds solid nourishment’: be cautious where to go. ‘My peer has an affliction’: ultimately no blame.” The caldron is filled, so one must prudently choose where to direct it and not act rashly. My counterpart suffers an affliction (‘affliction’ means improper entanglements or distress; ancient commentaries refer either to the initial line or Six in the fifth place) and cannot draw near, so in the end there is no fault.
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 4. Koyonari translation.
“The handles of the cauldron are altered, its movement blocked. The rich fat of the pheasant is not eaten. When rain falls, remorse diminishes: in the end, good fortune.” The cauldron's handles have changed, preventing it from being lifted. Even the rich pheasant meat inside cannot be eaten. When rain comes and yin and yang become harmonious, regret lessens. The eventual judgment is good fortune, meaning a favorable outcome. This describes a situation in which fine abilities cannot yet be put to use.
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 5. Koyonari translation.
“‘The caldron’s ears are altered’: losing their proper function.” The caldron’s ears have undergone change, losing their original intended function. The ears ought to be hollow to receive the carrying bar (the horizontal rod for lifting the caldron); Nine in the third place, being a yang line in a yang place, becomes solid and blocked, losing the original purpose of being hollow to receive objects. This is the origin of the line statement ‘its movement is blocked.’
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 6. Koyonari translation.
“The legs of the cauldron break, spilling the duke's stew, its appearance drenched in shame: misfortune.” The cauldron's feet break, spilling the cooked food intended for rulers and nobles and leaving the body dirty and wet. Sù means cooked food in the cauldron; wò means wetted. The judgment is misfortune, an unfavorable outcome. The cauldron's inability to bear its load represents insufficient ability to shoulder responsibilities, causing things to go wrong. Zhèng Xuán's text reads xíng wū, meaning severe punishment, an alternative reading.
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 7. Koyonari translation.
“‘Overturning the duke’s stew’: how can one be trusted?” Nine in the fourth place shoulders heavy responsibility yet lacks sufficient capacity, causing the caldron’s legs to snap and spilling the duke’s delicacies and broth. Having failed this grave trust, how can one ever regain people’s confidence?
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 8. Koyonari translation.
“The cauldron has yellow handles and bronze carrying rings: favorable to persevere.” The cauldron has yellow handles and a sturdy metal bar that passes through them to lift the vessel. Yellow symbolizes a central position; metal symbolizes firmness. Together they represent the virtue of balance supported by firm assistance. Favorable for steadfastness means that keeping to the right course is favorable.
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 9. Koyonari translation.
“‘The caldron has yellow ears’: centering as true substance.” Six in the fifth place holds the upper trigram’s center, yellow being the central color. Yellow ears indicate that Six in the fifth place relies on centered virtue as inner fullness.
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 10. Koyonari translation.
“The cauldron has jade carrying rings: great good fortune, nothing that is not favorable.” The cauldron is fitted with a jade lifting bar. Jade combines solidity with a warm, smooth quality, representing firmness and yieldingness complementing each other. The judgment is great good fortune, meaning a very favorable outcome. Nothing unfavorable means that there is no unfavorable aspect, indicating that the cauldron's function has reached perfection.
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 11. Koyonari translation.
“‘The jade carrying bar is at the top’: firm and yielding are tempered.” Top Nine stands at the apex of the hexagram, like a lustrous jade carrying bar through the caldron’s ears. A firm yang line occupying a yielding yin position harmonizes strength and softness with proper moderation, thus yielding great good fortune with nothing unfavorable.
Zhouyi, hexagram 50, line 12. Koyonari translation.