The Prospering State Encounters Its Shadow

This flow follows the effort to sustain abundance as confidence, isolation, and failing cooperation threaten the prosperity already achieved.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Sun Reaches Noon

A State at Fullness Prosperity seems complete Abundance describes a condition of great fullness and progress. Its opening tells a king not to fear change but to be like the sun at noon. Legge reads the metaphor as a call to illuminate and encourage all within the realm. The danger inside success The fullest point of a cycle also announces that change is possible. The ruler must sustain prosperity through intelligence and effective action rather than assuming it will continue by itself. The crisis is latent in the very abundance that appears to solve every problem.

A Screen Hides the Stars

Light Cannot Reach the Court A ruler under screens The second line shows a figure whose ruler is so darkened that constellations are visible at midday. The subject's attempt to enlighten him may produce suspicion rather than gratitude. The political breakdown interrupts communication between wisdom and authority. A capable officer loses support The third line's brilliant subject finds no effective partner and suffers injury. Legge reads the two lines as a warning that ability can remain useless when the center will not receive it. The conflict moves from full prosperity toward isolation.

Cooperation Restores Illumination

A Shared Work A counterpart is found The fourth line meets another strong figure like itself, changing isolation into cooperation. Legge reads the encounter as the condition for good fortune. The state's prosperity depends on capable people finding ways to work together. The ruler gathers talent The fifth line brings men of ability around a ruler. Legge sees this as the means by which public prosperity can be maintained. The conflict is not solved by brilliance alone; it needs a governing center that can recognize and employ it.

A Great House Stands Empty

Prosperity Without Community A screen around the ruler The final line shows a large house that serves only as a screen for its inhabitants. The door is quiet and no one is there; Legge interprets the condition as isolation lasting years. External scale conceals social emptiness. The cost of exclusion The state retains the appearance of grandeur but has lost the relationships that make prosperity real. The line's bad outcome is therefore both political and human. The crisis deepens when power protects itself from the people it should gather.

Return Follows the Point of Decline

A New Movement Begins Change works both ways Legge emphasizes that decline eventually gives way to recovery, just as growth gives way to decay. No political state remains fixed at its most prosperous point. The cycles do not ensure an easy or automatic restoration. Prudence governs the return The returning force must be followed with care. A society can regain direction, but it must still decide how to consolidate the new condition. The flow resolves not in an unchanging golden age but in a renewed opportunity.

At the opening of Abundance

At the second and third lines of Abundance

At the fourth and fifth lines of Abundance

At the final line of Abundance

After the sequence of decline reaches its limit