Increase

The bottom line is strong but low. The text still finds it advantageous “to make a great movement”, and the commentary states the doubt, that “it is not for one in so low a position to have to do with great affairs”.

Legge gives two reasons for the movement. The subject is favoured “according to the general idea of the hexagram”, and the line is “specially responding to the proper correlate in 4”.

He settles the doubt by the result. In his note “great success will make his rashness be forgotten”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 20, Contemplation

Here the increase arrives from outside. The commentary says of the givers that “they come from beyond (his immediate circle) to do so”. The text asks the one who receives to “persevere in being firm and correct”.

What is added to his stores is “ten pairs of tortoise shells whose oracles cannot be opposed”. Legge notes that the line is “weak, but in the centre, and is the correlate of 5”.

Legge quotes Kwo Yung, of the Sung dynasty, who sees the gift on more than one level. In his words “men benefit him”, and at the end “Heaven confers benefit from above”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 61, Inner Truth

Legge finds the line badly placed. It is “weak, neither central, nor in its correct position”, so it would seem that “its subject should have no increase given to him”. His answer is short. “But it is the time for giving increase”.

In this line the increase comes through hardship. The text speaks of “increase given to its subject by means of what is evil”, and Legge explains that “such things serve for reproof and correction”. The commentary says this happens “as he has in himself (the qualities called forth)”.

The line does not stop there. It asks its subject to “be sincere and pursue the path of the Mean”, and Legge notes that the paragraph goes on “to caution and admonish”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 37, The Family

Legge calls this “the place for a minister, near to that of the ruler”. The minister is heard, and the commentary gives the reason, “his (only) object in it being the increase (of the general good)”.

The example in the text is the moving of the capital. Legge reads that such a person “will be a support in the most critical movements”. He adds that “Changing the capital from place to place was frequent in the feudal times of China”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 25, Innocence

This is the seat of the ruler. Its subject is “with sincere heart seeking to benefit (all below)”, and the text adds “There need be no question about it”.

The commentary says that “he gets what he desires on a great scale”. Legge sums up the line by saying that everything good “may be said of him”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 27, Nourishment

The top line is strong, and Legge says it should be weak. He reads that its subject “will concentrate his powers in the increase of himself, and not think of benefiting those below him”.

The text says of him “He observes no regular rule in the ordering of his heart”. The commentary takes the first clause, that none contribute to his increase, and says “this expresses but half the result”. It adds that those who assail him “will come from beyond (his immediate circle) to do so”, nearly the words it used for the givers of the second line.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 3, Difficulty at the Beginning