50 - The Caldron

no2DO - eine Annäherung aus Westen

Contemporary Interpretation

50 - The Caldron

Surprising insight

Growing,
Until I am
Fully
MYSELF.
Then again
Merging into
All-oneness,
The song
Of the world:
Surprising
In-Sight.

The Changes

yang yin yang yang yang yin

Upper Trigram: Li, Fire

2nd Core Character: Dui, Lake

1st Core Character: Qian, Heaven

Lower Trigram: Sun, Wind (Tree)

Information regarding the interpretation model

Classical Interpretation

The cauldron (50) signifies receiving the new.

The image

Above the wood is fire: the image of the cauldron. Thus the superior man consolidates fate by correcting the position.

The judgement

The caldron. Sublime good fortune. Success. Full text of Richard Wilhelm's 1924 translation by Cary F. Baynes

Dynamics of the Hexagram

The Changes: 50 - the caldron

Lower Trigram: Sun, the Wind / Tree

Sun, the Wind / Tree, stands for a lively, pushing growth from within. Like the landscape's greening in the spring: ... Read more self confident, powerful, without hesitation. Strategical, relentless, unstoppable. Like the wind: passing through every opening, into every corner. Hide

First Change: Sun → Qian, the Heaven

Qian develops when a (solid) yang line is added (red arrow; yang symbolizes energy, activity). Sun represents a powerful forward ... Read more thrusting from within ourselves: self-assured, unstoppable, unrelenting, following an invisible, very own, perfect path. This growth reaches its peak in Qian: our clear and coherent self, our true nature. Hide

Second Change: Qian → Dui, the Lake

Qian is the result of an internal growth process towards greater personal integrity, coherence and clarity. But while Qian ... Read more monologues, Dui starts the dialogue: Dui opens the boundaries of the self and lets the outside, the "you" touch our inside. Result: our self (Qian) becomes alive through animated exchange with the world around us. Hide

Third Change: Dui → Li, the Fire

Li develops when a (solid) yang line is added (red arrow; yang symbolizes energy, activity). We expanded our boundaries and ... Read more - more or less unconditionally - opened towards our environment (Dui). Li (fire) is the instance that analyzes and distinguishes worldly impulses and separates "the clear from the unclear". That what has been received in Dui, is now being processed: releasing the useless and integrating the "clear" into our world view. Hide

Upper Trigram: Li, the Fire

Li (the fire) stands for our ability to differentiate facts, influences, emotions - in short: the world's fullness. Without this ... Read more ability to separate the "clear from the unclear", we would be lost in a chaos of diversities. Only by differentiation, thus distinguishing what is important and what is not, we can concentrate on the essentials and are able to act. Hide

Follow the Path of the Dao: A Western Approximation

The interpretations shown above gradually moved away from Eastern concepts. Let us proceed even a little further. In this section I develop a model of interpretation from a Western perspective, more precisely: from the perspective of philosophical anthropology.
A detailed article on the subject can be found here: A Western Approximation

Dem Weg des Dao folgen: Annäherung aus Westen

Exemplary Experiences

Support no2DO: Give me feedback!

You can help the further development of no2DO by sending me the question you asked the I Ching and its response (the hexagram's name and number). Each hexagram's tendencies open up most clearly when examined in the context of a personal situation.

References and Connotations