The Text's Changing Idea of Strength

This flow traces how strength moves from energetic action to restraint, showing that power is valuable only when governed by correctness.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

Strength Begins as Activity

Power as a Basic Quality The strong line The first hexagram consists entirely of undivided lines and is associated with strength and activity. Its opening image presents a powerful quality before it has entered public action. Strength is the condition of possibility, not yet proof of wise conduct. The need for timing The hidden dragon must wait. Legge's reading makes the first test of strength the capacity not to act too soon. Power begins as potential governed by circumstance.

Great Vigor Tests Its Holder

Strength Needs a Rule Vigorous force fills the figure Great Vigor contains more strong than divided lines. Legge interprets it as a condition abundant in energy but not automatically good. The judgment insists on firmness and correctness as the guide to its use. The danger of pressing forward The line of strength in the toes is warned against advancing from too low a position. A ram that butts into a fence can trap itself through force. The theme separates power from judgment.

A Strong Minister Waits at the Gate

Restraint Stores Power Advance is stopped The first line of Great Accumulation is advised to halt; the second shows a carriage whose strap is removed. Legge reads both as restraint on movement. The force remains available because it has not been spent prematurely. Accumulation has a purpose The hexagram's restraint is intended to build virtue and capacity, not to suppress action forever. A later line releases the subject to serve. Power becomes more useful by being contained.

The Ram Learns to Stop

Awareness Prevents Injury Strength reaches an impasse The final line again pictures a ram butting against a fence, unable to advance or retreat. Legge says the position is not advantageous. Repeated force has become self-entrapment. Recognition changes the outcome If the subject realizes the difficulty and stops, good fortune remains possible. Strength does not disappear; it becomes governed by awareness. The theme reaches its clearest form when restraint replaces futile insistence.

Correctness Directs the Final Movement

Power Is Judged by Its Use Force serves a purpose The military and political figures repeatedly give strong people opportunities to act, while warning against divided command, overreach, or self-interest. Legge reads strength as a capacity requiring moral direction. The same energy can defend order or damage it. The final measure A successful action must remain firm, correct, and proportionate. Strength that cannot stop when circumstances change becomes a source of regret. The theme resolves by making self-command the highest form of power.

At the opening of the first hexagram

At the opening of Great Vigor

At the first two lines of Great Accumulation

At the sixth line of Great Vigor

At the ending of the text's strength sequence