Line 1 Yin
Begin with discipline, then remove the fetters; prolonged punishment frustrates learning.
← The 64 hexagrams
HEXAGRAM 04 · Méng
Learning in Uncertainty
Learn sincerely when unsure, without repeatedly testing the teacher.
☶ Above: Gen · Mountain☵ Below: Kan · Water
Meaning
A spring beneath the mountain is finding its course. Learning needs patience and boundaries: willing inquiry from the student, and correction without oppression from the teacher.
FOR REFLECTION
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The six lines
Read from line 1 at the bottom to line 6 at the top. These are paraphrases, not verbatim translations.
Line 2 Yang
Welcome the inexperienced and a new household member; grow through responsibility.
Line 3 Yin
Avoid a union with someone who abandons self-respect at the sight of wealth.
Line 4 Yin
Confined in ignorance and cut off from reality, learning becomes difficult.
Line 5 Yin
A beginner's open willingness creates room to learn.
Line 6 Yang
Correct ignorance to resist harm; do not become an aggressor in doing so.
References
Classical Zhouyi · 蒙James Legge, The Yî King (1882), Sacred Books of the East XVI, hexagram 4
Editorial policy & bibliography →For reference and reflection. This commentary makes no certain claim about the future.