Hexagram 11 of 64 · King Wen order
泰Peace
Tài · ䷊ · above: Earth ☷ 坤 Kūn · below: Heaven ☰ 乾 Qián
A state of harmony where heaven and earth interact, leading to growth and prosperity for all.A one-line gloss written for this site (AI-assisted). Everything below it is the classical text.
The Judgment 卦辭
小往大來，吉亨。
In Thâi (we see) the little gone and the great come. (It indicates that) there will be good fortune, with progress and success.
James Legge, The Yî King (1882), the Text. Words in (parentheses) are Legge's own additions.
Commentary on the Judgment 彖傳 (Tuan, the first Wing)
'The little come and the great gone in Thai, and its indication that there will be good fortune with progress and success' show to us heaven and earth in communication with each other, and all things in consequence having free course, and (also) the high and the low, (superiors and inferiors), in communication with one another, and possessed by the same aim. The inner (trigram) is made up of the strong and undivided lines, and the outer of the weak and divided; the inner is (the symbol of) strength, and the outer of docility; the inner (represents) the superior man, and the outer the small man. (Thus) the way of the superior man appears increasing, and that of the small man decreasing.
The Image 象
天地交泰，后以財成天地之道，輔相天地之宜，以左右民。
(The trigrams for) heaven and earth in communication together form Thâi. The (sage) sovereign, in harmony with this, fashions and completes (his regulations) after the courses of heaven and earth, and assists the application of the adaptations furnished by them,—in order to benefit the people.
Legge's Great Image (Appendix II). The Chinese above also carries the Small Images of the six lines.
The six lines 爻辭
Read from the bottom (line 1) to the top (line 6). Each line: the Chinese, Legge's translation, and the Small Image commentary on it.
Line 1 初九
The first line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
拔茅茹，以其彙，征吉。
The first NINE, undivided, suggests the idea of grass pulled up, and bringing with it other stalks with whose roots it is connected. Advance (on the part of its subject) will be fortunate.
Small Image: 'The good fortune of advance, (as suggested by the emblem of) the grass pulled up,' arises from the will (of the party intended) being set on what is external to himself.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward.
Line 2 九二
The second line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
包荒，用馮河，不遐遺，朋亡，得尚于中行。
The second NINE, undivided, shows one who can bear with the uncultivated, will cross the Ho without a boat, does not forget the distant, and has no (selfish) friendships. Thus does he prove himself acting in accordance with the course of the due Mean.
Small Image: 'He bears with the uncultivated, and proves himself acting in accordance with the due mean:'—for (his intelligence is) bright and (his capacity is) great.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light.
Line 3 九三
The third line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
無平不陂，無往不復，艱貞無咎。勿恤其孚，于食有福。
The third NINE, undivided, shows that, while there is no state of peace that is not liable to be disturbed, and no departure (of evil men) so that they shall not return, yet when one is firm and correct, as he realises the distresses that may arise, he will commit no error. There is no occasion for sadness at the certainty (of such recurring changes); and in this mood the happiness (of the present) may be (long) enjoyed.
Small Image: 'There is no going away so that there shall not be a return' refers to this as the point where the interaction of heaven and earth takes place.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 19, Approach.
Line 4 六四
The fourth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
翩翩不富，以其鄰，不戒以孚。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject fluttering (down);—not relying on his own rich resources, but calling in his neighbours. (They all come) not as having received warning, but in the sincerity (of their hearts).
Small Image: 'He comes fluttering (down), not relying on his own rich resources:'—both he and his neighbours are out of their real (place where they are). 'They have not received warning, but (come) in the sincerity (of their hearts):'—this is what they have desired in the core of their hearts.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 34, The Power of the Great.
Line 5 六五
The fifth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
帝乙歸妹，以祉元吉。
The fifth SIX, divided, reminds us of (king) Tî-yî's (rule about the) marriage of his younger sister. By such a course there is happiness and there will be great good fortune.
Small Image: 'By such a course there is happiness, and there will be great good fortune:'—(the subject of the line) employs the virtue proper to his central position to carry his wishes into effect.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 5, Waiting.
Line 6 上六
The sixth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
城復于隍，勿用師。自邑告命，貞吝。
The sixth six, divided, shows us the city wall returned into the moat. It is not the time to use the army. (The subject of the line) may, indeed, announce his orders to the people of his own city; but however correct and firm he may be, he will have cause for regret.
Small Image: 'The city wall returned back into the moat' shows how the (governmental) orders have (long) been in disorder.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 26, The Taming Power of the Great.
Related hexagrams
lines 2-4 below, 3-5 aboveOpposite 錯卦12. Standstill 否
every line changedInverse 綜卦12. Standstill 否
turned upside down
A hexagram is a mirror, not a command: read it to reflect, never to obey. Sources: James Legge (tr.), The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (Oxford, 1882; 2nd ed. 1899), public domain; the Chinese text from Project Gutenberg ebook #25501 (易經), public domain. The trigram facts and the related hexagrams are computed from the line pattern. The gloss, selection and arrangement are CC-BY-SA-4.0 (PlayfulProcess). Data: github.com/PlayfulProcess/recursive-iching.