Yi 29: mistake missed because i have followed my own path

 

Hilary Barrett:

The Chinese character for 'Confined' or 'oppressed' shows a tree completely encircled by walls: an image of entrapment and isolation. You are cut off and cannot reach out to others. The great person finds good fortune in constancy to an inner ideal. This is the supreme test of character: whether you can hold to your purpose when there is no encouragement, no confirmation from outside, but only your own inner resources.

The Image

Legge: An abyss beneath the marsh that drains its water -- the image of ppression. Thus the superior man will sacrifice his life to attain his purpose.

Wilhelm/Baynes: There is no water in the lake: the image of Exhaustion. Thus the superior man stakes his life on following his will.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a marsh in which no water (appears). The Superior Man risks his life to carry out his will.

Liu: The lake with no water symbolizesOppression. The superior man would give up his life to achieve his purpose.

Ritsema/Karcher: Marsh without stream. Confining. A chun tzu uses involving fate to release purpose.

Cleary (1): A lake with no water is exhausted. Therefore superior people use life to the full and achieve their aim. [When people lack purpose their path is at an end. Therefore they use life to the full to achieve their aim… Using life to the full means to get to the end of conditioned life; achieving one’s aim means to achieve the primordial life… Using the temporal to restore the primordial, ending false life and establishing real life, producing being in the midst of nothingness, seeking life within death, getting through an exhausting impasse, is like a lake without water again being filled with water.]

Cleary (2): …Developed people accomplish their will by living out their destiny. [Developed people only live out their destiny; they do not willingly try to avoid following and accepting it. Being strong and balanced, they are able to be joyful even in danger; this is the will that is up to oneself. Developed people intend to accomplish their will and do not vacillate just because they run into problems.]

Wu: The marsh has no water; this is Hardship. Thus the jun zi is prepared to dedicate his life to fulfill his commitments. [A marsh devoid of water is like a man deprived of his intellectual pursuits. This is unacceptable to a jun zi. He would rather fight to the end than surrender to idiocy.]

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