The name 名
Tài 泰 means flowing through, and so being at ease, as in the phrase “the state at peace, the people secure.” The New Year greeting “three yang open the way to Tài” refers to the three yang lines at the base of this figure, not to three goats, as folk punning would have it. Peace here is not stillness but circulation: energy moves, people meet, and so things settle.
The image 象
Earth sits above, Heaven below. It looks upside down, but Heaven by nature rises and Earth by nature sinks, so placed this way they must meet and mingle. It is the image of a ruler who goes down among the people to learn their needs: when high and low communicate, there is peace.
Layers of images 層
A gua can be read on several levels at once: the trigrams as members of a family (father, mother, eldest to youngest sons and daughters), the six lines as ranks in an organisation (from newcomer to ruler), and as forces of nature and animals. Each extra level adds meaning to the line texts.
Read as a family
Below is Qián, the father; above is Kūn, the mother. Father below and mother above looks reversed, but the father’s energy rises and the mother’s sinks, so the two meet and exchange. In a household, when the father is willing to lower himself, husband and wife understand each other; in a realm, it is the ruler going down among the people.
Line 5, “Emperor Yi gives his younger sister in marriage; blessing and supreme good fortune”: lines 2–4 form a nuclear Duì, the youngest daughter, and lines 3–5 a nuclear Zhèn, the eldest son. Daughter below and son above is exactly the pairing of Guī Mèi, the Marrying Maiden, so the line speaks of a sister’s wedding. The Shang king Di Yi married his sister into the Zhou house, joining high and low through kinship, and so the fortune is great.
Line 3, “no level without a slope, no going without a return… there is blessing in food”: lines 2–4 form a nuclear Duì, the mouth, and above lies Kūn, the many: a mouth facing plenty, hence blessing at the table. But Line 3 is at the top of the lower trigram, halfway through peace; after level ground comes a slope, so one must hold steady through hardship.
Line 2, “embracing the wild, crossing the river on foot, not neglecting the distant, leaving cliques behind; he is honoured on the middle way”: the second place is an official out in the field, corresponding with Line 5. He accepts rough people, dares to wade the river, forgets no one far away and forms no faction, so the ruler above values him. A gentle ruler above and a firm official below: the arrangement of ruler and minister in peace.
Turn Tài upside down and you get Pǐ, Stagnation; the two are each other’s inversion and also each other’s opposite. The same situation seen from one end is peace and from the other is blockage: your good times may be someone else’s bad times, and today’s open exchange, flipped over, is tomorrow’s wall. That is why Line 3 says nothing goes without returning, and the top line has the city wall collapsing into its moat: the end of Tài is already turning into Pǐ.
In sequence 序
履而泰，然後安，故受之以泰；泰者通也。
The Sequence says that after Treading comes Peace: one who walks by ritual propriety finds the way open, and only then is secure. Lǚ 履 is conduct shaped by courtesy, and courtesy opens doors. A good motto here: with propriety, one may travel anywhere.
The judgment 辭
泰：小往大來，吉亨。
“Peace: the small departs, the great arrives; good fortune, success.” The small is yin, the petty person; the great is yang, the noble person. The yin lines sit in the outer trigram, having gone away; the yang lines fill the inner trigram, having come near. With worthy people close at hand and the petty kept at the edges, affairs run smoothly.
Commentary on the judgment 彖
彖曰：泰，小往大來，吉亨。則是天地交而萬物通也，上下交而其志同也。內陽而外陰，內健而外順，內君子而外小人，君子道長，小人道消也。
The Commentary on the Judgment is unusually plain: Heaven and Earth commune and all things flow; high and low commune and share one will. Strong within, yielding without; the noble inside, the petty outside. So the way of the noble grows and the way of the petty wanes. Yet this is a waxing-and-waning hexagram, and the tide it rides will turn.
The great image 象
象曰：天地交，泰；后以財成天地之道，輔相天地之宜，以左右民。
“Heaven and Earth commune: Peace. The sovereign thereby shapes and completes the way of Heaven and Earth, assists what suits them, and so guides the people.” 財 here means to cut and tailor: the ruler fashions institutions from the patterns of nature, as farming follows the seasons — plough in spring, weed in summer, reap in autumn, store in winter. It sums up the whole book’s aim: to found the human way on the way of Heaven.
The six lines 爻
Ruling line The ruling line is the six in the fifth place, not the nine in the second. A yielding ruler in the seat of honor bends toward the strong partner below and completes the communion; Peace lasts only as long as these two work together.
The path of the six lines, bottom to top
Line 1 pulls up a reed and its roots come with it: the three yang lines rise together, and the start goes well. Line 2, central and broad-minded, wins the trust of Line 5 and is the backbone of peace. Line 3, at the top of the lower trigram, is past the halfway mark: after level ground comes a slope, and steadiness in hardship is needed. Entering the upper trigram, Line 4 leads the yin lines fluttering downward, meeting others in sincerity rather than wealth. Line 5 reaches down like Di Yi marrying off his sister, and peace is at its height; at the top the city wall falls back into the moat, the era of peace ends, and one should not take up arms but only guard oneself.
初九拔茅茹以其彙，征吉。
In plain words
Pull up the couch grass and its matted roots come too, each with its kind; advancing brings good fortune.
Close reading
茹 is roots tangled together; 彙 is kind or category. A yang line in a yang place, it corresponds with the six in the fourth. The three yang lines move as one body toward the earth above, so advance is favored. The Small Image adds: its aim lies outward, toward its partner.
If you drew this line
The way is open; move forward, but move with like-minded people rather than alone.
九二包荒。用馮河，不遐遺；朋亡。得尚于中行。
In plain words
Embracing the wide wilds, daring to ford the river on foot, not neglecting the distant, forming no faction: so one wins esteem by walking the middle way.
Close reading
Central in the lower trigram and matched with the ruler above, this line is nearly a portrait of the noble person. Its four phrases map onto four virtues: embracing all is humaneness; fording the river is courage; overlooking no one far away is wisdom; having no faction is impartiality. The Small Image: with all four, one’s conduct is luminous and broad.
One level deeper
Line 2, “embracing the wild, crossing the river on foot, not neglecting the distant, leaving cliques behind; he is honoured on the middle way”: the second place is an official out in the field, corresponding with Line 5. He accepts rough people, dares to wade the river, forgets no one far away and forms no faction, so the ruler above values him. A gentle ruler above and a firm official below: the arrangement of ruler and minister in peace.
If you drew this line
Think of the whole: be generous, be decisive when needed, and above all do not let loyalty to your own circle bend your judgment.
Wrestling Tigers, Wading Rivers
Confucius once praised Yan Hui as the only one who, like himself, could serve when employed and withdraw when set aside. Zilu, stung, asked whom the Master would take if he led the armies, expecting to be named. Confucius replied that he would not take a man who would fight a tiger bare-handed or wade a river and die without regret; he wanted someone who approached affairs with due fear and succeeded by planning. The courage of this line is real, but it is held in check by breadth, care and impartiality.
九三无平不陂，无往不復，艱貞无咎。勿恤其孚，于食有福。
In plain words
No level without a slope, no going without return. Steadfast in hardship, no blame. Do not fret; keep faith, and there is blessing at your table.
Close reading
At the top of the lower trigram, touching the earth above, this line stands where Heaven and Earth meet — the Small Image says exactly that. Correctly placed and answered by the top line, it can hold firm through the change. Lines two to four form a mouth (Duì), facing the multitude of Kūn: hence food in plenty. To call a road level, one must know what a slope is; every state carries its counterweight.
One level deeper
Line 3, “no level without a slope, no going without a return… there is blessing in food”: lines 2–4 form a nuclear Duì, the mouth, and above lies Kūn, the many: a mouth facing plenty, hence blessing at the table. But Line 3 is at the top of the lower trigram, halfway through peace; after level ground comes a slope, so one must hold steady through hardship.
If you drew this line
Good times are at a turning point; do not assume they will last. Hold to integrity and good faith through the hard stretch, and what was lost tends to come back.
Will the Class Pay?
After one course had lost money, someone worried that a new one would too, and cast this line. “No going without return” suggested the earlier shortfall would be made up; “steadfast in hardship” and “keep faith” asked for persistence; “blessing at your table” hinted at some gain. Enrolment proved strong enough to cover the old deficit with something to spare — a small instance of “the small departs, the great arrives.”
六四翩翩，不富以其鄰；不戒以孚。
In plain words
Fluttering lightly, not rich, yet joined with its neighbors; unguarded, because there is trust.
Close reading
Yang is solid, yin hollow; from here up three yin lines float, so the line flutters — the Small Image says all have lost substance. Lightness has its gift, though. Correctly placed, answered by the first line, and flanked by kindred yin neighbors, it has nothing to fight over. The Small Image: this is what the heart desires, so no guard is needed.
If you drew this line
Your own resources may be thin, but honest reliance on allies serves you well; openness works better here than vigilance.
六五帝乙歸妹，以祉，元吉。
In plain words
King Yi gives his younger sister in marriage; by this comes blessing, and fortune supreme.
Close reading
A yielding line in the seat of honor, central and answered by the strong second line. A royal daughter married to a vassal still deferred to her husband by rite — just as the one on high lowers herself to work with the worthy below. The nuclear trigrams Thunder and Lake together give the image of the marrying maiden. The Small Image: by the middle way, its wish is carried out.
One level deeper
Line 5, “Emperor Yi gives his younger sister in marriage; blessing and supreme good fortune”: lines 2–4 form a nuclear Duì, the youngest daughter, and lines 3–5 a nuclear Zhèn, the eldest son. Daughter below and son above is exactly the pairing of Guī Mèi, the Marrying Maiden, so the line speaks of a sister’s wedding. The Shang king Di Yi married his sister into the Zhou house, joining high and low through kinship, and so the fortune is great.
If you drew this line
From a high position, step down and partner sincerely with capable people; humility is what brings the blessing.
King Yi’s Sister
King Yi of Shang was the father of the last Shang king, Zhòu. On one widely repeated reading of this line, Yi gave his sister in marriage to Jili of the Zhou, and she bore King Wen — which would make Zhòu and Wen first cousins. Royal marriages bound states together and brought real blessing for a time; yet a generation later Zhou rose and overthrew Shang. It is one of the few line texts that can be set against recorded history.
上六城復于隍，勿用師，自邑告命，貞吝。
In plain words
The city wall tumbles back into its moat. Do not use the army. Orders come from the outlying towns; persistence brings regret.
Close reading
城 is the wall, 隍 the dry moat. The wall was built from the earth dug from the moat; when it falls, the earth returns whence it came — no going without return. Correctly placed and answered by the third line, the top yin nonetheless stands at the end of Peace. Kūn is the multitude, tempting one to think force is still available; it is not. Orders now flow from below to above, and the Small Image says the mandate is in disarray.
If you drew this line
A good season has run its course. Do not try to force it back or cling to the old arrangement; accept the change, put your own house in order, and prepare for what comes next.
Stories 典
Courtesy Opens Every Door
An elderly scholar visiting a research institute abroad knew nothing about computers and often needed the young technician on staff. Everyone else summoned him by phone; the scholar instead walked down the corridor each time and asked in person. Touched, the young man soon said: from now on just call, and I will come at once. Courtesy is returned with courtesy; without it, however able you are, people simply find ways to be unavailable. This is the Sequence’s logic from Treading to Peace: keep to propriety and the way opens.
Insight 悟
The heart of Peace is communion. Everyone keeping to his own place without contact is not peace; peace is when high and low are willing to draw near and truly hear each other. Those above must lower themselves, and the second line shows the character required: humaneness, courage, wisdom, impartiality. The third and top lines warn that no good fortune goes without return; prosperity carries its own turning point. To keep what is good, do not grip it — stay humble, keep faith, and know when to let go.