9. Passive Restraint to 63. Completion

Changing lines

1. Line 2

   The second line, dynamic, shows its subject, by the attraction of the former line, returning to the proper course. There will be good fortune. The second place is dynamic, and though a magnetic place is not appropriate to him, that place is central. Because of this he restrains himself, does not exceed his authority, and makes common cause with line one.

2. Line 6

   The sixth line, dynamic, shows how the rain has fallen, and the onward progress is stayed; so must we value the full accumulation of the virtue of humble service. But a wife exercising restraint, however firm and correct she may be, is in the position of peril, and like the moon approaching to the full. If the superior man prosecutes his measures in such circumstances, there will be evil. In line six the idea of the hexagram has run its course. The harmony of nature is restored. The rain falls, and the onward march of the dynamic lines should now stop. But passive restraint that has achieved such a result, if it plume itself on it, will be in the perilous position of the full moon which can now only wane. Let the superior man, when he has attained his end, remain in quiet. Restraint is at its height and the restrained should keep still for a time. The paragraph is metrical, and we have a couplet:

The present judgment

Passive Restraint brings about progress and success. We see dense clouds, but no rain coming from our western borders.

The later judgment

Completion intimates progress and success in small matters. There is advantage in firm correctness. There had been good fortune in the beginning; there may be disorder in the end.

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