Sui :: Pursuit

Supreme offering : no misfortune

隋

䷐

6 :: first

Standards change. Leaving the gate brings merit.

Pursue new ways to demonstrate and express yourself. Reclaim losses by taking the initiative. Innovation and education are called for. You can no longer rest on your laurels or take things for granted.

9 :: second

Capturing the young, but losing the mature.

Your first taste of success is minor and unworthy. A small quarry is hardly worth the hunt. Keep going. Something better is in the field.

6 :: third

Capturing the mature, but losing the young. Successful pursuit. Go no further.

You have gotten what you wanted, and maybe more, so stop and rest. A good catch is sufficient and the lesser quarry can now be released or given away. To go further is excessive and wasteful. Cease with sufficiency.

9 :: fourth

Pursuit ends. Misfortune. Have confidence in Dao.¹ No blame.

When you get what you want, stop. If you do not stop, your excesses will discredit you. You are advised to have confidence in the natural unfolding of things. Back off a little! If you do, your inappropriateness can be forgiven.

9 :: fifth

Confidence in what is excellent. Auspicious.

Once fulfilled, leave well enough alone. You have exactly what you need. If you cease with sufficiency now, you can add dignity to your success. Rest and celebrate.

6 :: top

Bound, then set free. Make offerings to the West mountain.²

Your longings (bound) are satisfied (free). Your goals have been pursued and reached. Offer thanks to those who supported you. The west is the place of the resolution (setting sun) and the continuity of life.

Image

Sui is a ritual form of tracking and hunting (pursuit) used for divination.³ Auspices were determined by the species, age, health, and markings of the bagged game animal. The divinatory quality of the hunt has long been central to the human relationship to nature. It is a form of communication with the unseen.

Auspices

In Sui goals (hunt) are reached but it is important not to make pursuit (killing) itself the goal. An important aspect of successful leadership is knowing when to subordinate and who or what to follow.

Good for marriage of the young, travel, education, and new endeavors.

Bad for overworking, exaggerating your strength, and being "old fashioned."

Comment

In the Zhouyi all success is linked to compliance to its divined omen. This is called "following the ancestors" or embracing fate.

In this hexagram, the source of clarity and the strength that bring true success is subordination to fate--the act of following. When your efforts are rewarded it is stopping that brings success. Getting caught up in pursuit for it own sake will make you mad and diminish your resources.

What Confucianists will interpret as an ideal of moral restraint, is, in the Zhouyi, simply a matter of precedent and practicality. True success is ordained of Heaven, that is, fated or created by natural precedents-the momentum of the ancestors. When Sui is divined, following the omen of the ancestors is always the road to success.

Other Correspondences

Business: Hiring consultants and innovators, selling out to a larger firm, and promotions.

Disharmonies: Contagious diseases, stress-related illness, kidney qi deficiency, and excess damp.

Prognosis: Poor. The patient recovers slowly due to changing physicians and/or uneven adherence to medical advice. Hypochondria may be the real problem.