Kâo Ȝung's expedition against the Demon region

Kâo Ȝung's expedition against the Demon region is cited as a campaign that lasted three years and as a model of sustained effort in restoring order. In the commentary on the final hexagrams, the expedition serves two related purposes: it warns against entrusting difficult enterprises to men of poor judgment, and illustrates how firm, correct leadership, backed by continued support, can bring progress over time.

Historical and textual setting

The campaign is identified with Kâo Ȝung, the sacrificial title of Wu Ding, described as one of the ablest sovereigns of the Shang dynasty, who reigned from 1364 to 1324 BC. The commentary places his expedition against peoples in the cold, bleak regions north of the Middle States. It also notes that he appears in the Book of Documents and the Book of Odes, situating the campaign within a wider textual tradition.

The campaign as a warning

In the line text for Hexagram 64, the third line recalls Kâo Ȝung's attack on the Demon region and specifies that subduing it took three years. The passage immediately warns that small men should not be employed in such enterprises. The commentator accepts that the undertaking may have been good and successful, but stresses its tedious duration; the example makes prolonged difficulty part of the lesson rather than evidence that the campaign lacked purpose.

Persistence, authority, and support

The line text for Hexagram 64 returns to the expedition as an image for vigorous and sustained action: the subject is urged to exert himself as if undertaking Kâo Ȝung's campaign, with rewards coming to him and his troops from the great kingdom over the course of three years. The commentary connects that outcome to the subject's firm correctness and to his position beneath a humble ruler prepared to welcome his efforts. It also explains that expeditions beyond the frontiers were not regarded as so remote that the army lost contact with the court: rewards, distinctions, and necessary encouragement could be sent to the troops. The campaign thus figures not simply as individual military exertion, but as an extended undertaking sustained by competent command and continuing political support.