Saturday, March 24, 2012

Yuan 元, Heng 亨, Li 利, Zhen 貞

These four words embody the concept of Yi 易.

Yuan 元 is a cycle. It points at the beginning of a cycle. The saying 一元復始 means a cycle begins with the hexagram Fu復:

Heng 亨 means prosperous. The saying 財運亨通 means the wealth cycle has come to the point of prosperity without obstruction.

Li 利 means harvest, The character consists of two parts the left side being crop while the right side being a knife/sickle.

Zhen貞is perseverance. The saying 松柏堅貞is praising someone who can withstand the cold like pine or cedar.

These four words describe the order of nature as cycles. It is all about changes and tells us to deal with changes in the natural way. In short, just welcome the beginning, work hard while the time is right, happily harvest the result of your hardwork and safekeep the return with persevance.

Well, there is no need to make things complicated as Yi is meant to be easy. Just do the right thing at the right time with the proper attitude.

JY




2 comments:

Harmen Mesker said...

"Just do the right thing at the right time with the proper attitude." Well, Yi may be easy but putting this in to practice is 真難!

Joseph Yu said...

When life is simple, everything is simple. Let us look at the simple way of life of farmers in the old days.

In New Year time, everyone was happy to welcome the new year. Then they worked hard planting the crops, water and fertilize the field. In autumn, they harvest the crops singing with joy. In winter, they kept an eye on thieves and fire that might destroy their barn during harsh weather.

When life becomes complicated, everything is easier said then done.

JY