The Cycle of the Twelve Months

This flow follows Legge's account of seasonal hexagrams as a model of alternating decline and renewal in nature and political life.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

Light Begins to Decline

The First Turn Toward Decline Strength loses ground Coming to Meet is associated with the fifth month, when light and heat begin to diminish. Legge uses the seasonal setting to explain the return of a divided line after the prior advance of strong lines. A small change signals a larger turn. Political meaning follows nature The entering line represents an unworthy person beginning to influence government. Seasonal decline supplies a pattern for political vulnerability rather than a simple forecast. The cycle begins with the warning that change often arrives quietly.

The Small Gain Ground

A Gradual Displacement Weakness advances Legge traces a sequence in which divided lines gradually prevail over strong lines until Splitting Apart shows only one strong line remaining at the top. Political decline becomes visible through a succession of small advances. The proper response changes As opposition gains strength, bold action becomes less useful. The last remaining good force must wait rather than expose itself to destruction. The seasonal cycle emphasizes that strategy must change as conditions worsen.

The Strong Line Disappears

An Apparent End The weak lines fill the figure The all-divided hexagram represents a point at which the strong influence has been expelled from the figure. Legge places it between the near-completion of decline and the first return of strength. The cycle reaches its bleakest point before it turns. No permanent defeat The next hexagram begins with one strong line at the bottom. The sequence does not promise that recovery will be immediate, only that decline is not the final condition. The theme makes endurance possible without denying loss.

The Solstice Marks the Turn

The Sun Turns Back A new motion begins Return belongs to the eleventh month in Legge's account. At the winter solstice, the sun begins moving back toward the summer solstice. The natural turning provides a visible image of renewed force. Political hope remains modest One returning line does not instantly restore a flourishing state. It marks the beginning of a process that must develop through time and right conduct. The cycle offers possibility rather than a guarantee.

The Eighth Month Warns of Decline

Expansion Carries Its Future Reversal Authority approaches the people Approach represents strong lines moving toward weaker ones and is associated with the twelfth month. Legge says its great progress will not last indefinitely. The judgment warns that evil will arrive in the eighth month as the cycle turns. Foresight within favorable times A ruler should not wait for decline to become visible before exercising care. The seasonal scheme makes prosperity and its reversal parts of one structure. The cycle ends by returning to the lesson that no favorable condition should be mistaken for permanence.

Fifth month of the hexagram cycle

Sixth through ninth months of the hexagram cycle

Tenth month of the hexagram cycle

Eleventh month and winter solstice

Twelfth-month judgment on Approach