A City Attempts to Restore Its Order

This flow traces the recovery of a disordered state through judgment, removal of obstacles, timely relief, and renewed restraint.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

Obstacles Block Union

The Social Body Cannot Close An obstacle divides the jaws Legge explains the figure as a mouth held open by something lodged between its jaws. In society, unresolved obstacles prevent high and low from coming together. The political problem is separation caused by wrongdoing. Law becomes a remedy The hexagram recommends legal constraints to remove what blocks union. The use of force is made conditional on restoring a working social relationship. The conflict's first proposed solution is judgment rather than private revenge.

Punishment Must Fit the Offense

Justice at Different Scales A first restraint The first line shows a minor offender restrained early. Legge notes the severity of the image but sees it as punishment before wrongdoing has grown. The next lines increase the difficulty of enforcing judgment. Force can become excessive The second line bites through easily, while the third struggles through harder material. Legge reads the sequence as changing conditions that require proportionate action. Law restores order only if its severity answers to the actual obstacle.

A Judge Faces Hard Evidence

Judgment Requires Caution A difficult case The fourth line represents a judge confronting a hard task and receiving legal pledges. Legge says the line's strength is tempered by its position and requires a clear awareness of difficulty. Judicial authority does not remove uncertainty. Leniency under authority The fifth line places a ruler in judgment and associates correctness with the color yellow. Its weakness inclines the figure toward leniency, but caution remains necessary. The conflict moves toward resolution through disciplined rather than impulsive authority.

Old Complications Are Loosed

A Knot Begins to Untie Relief after obstruction Deliverance follows a hexagram of difficulty and represents complications being removed. Legge advises returning to old conditions if no further operations are needed. Restoration can be better than continuing to remake the state. Speed where action remains necessary If the situation still requires operations, the text favors conducting them early. Delay may let danger or disorder re-form. The conflict's resolution depends on distinguishing between work still required and work that should stop.

Rules Prevent a New Crisis

Stability Needs Proportion Order through limits Regulations makes rules necessary for the guidance of the people. The opening line recommends restraint, while the next warns against remaining inactive when action is called for. A regulated society needs both rules and responsiveness. Severity has a limit The final line says that rules that are too harsh cannot endure. Legge contrasts strictness that repairs disorder with measures that exhaust public acceptance. The recovery holds only when regulation is proportionate.

At the opening of Biting Through

At the first three lines of Biting Through

At the fourth and fifth lines of Biting Through

At the opening of Deliverance

At the closing judgment on Regulations