134 THE Yi KING.
XXXVI. The Ming t Hexagram.
Ming 1 indicates that (in the circumstances which it denotes) it will be advantageous to realise the
the great blessing. The ' New Digest of Comments on the Yi (1686)/ in its paraphrase of the line, has, * He receives at last this great blessing from the mild and compliant ruler.' I am not sure that ' motherly king ' would not be the best and fairest translation of the phrase.
Canon McClatchie has a very astonishing note on the name, which he renders ' Imperial Mother' (p. 164): — 'That is, the wife of Imperial Heaven (Juno), who occupies the " throne of the dia- gram," viz. the fifth stroke, which is soft and therefore feminine. She is the Great Ancestress of the human race. See Imp. Ed. vol. iv, Sect, v, p. 25, Com.' Why such additions to the written word ?
Line 3 is weak, and in an odd place ; but the subjects of 1 and 2 are possessed by the same desire to advance as the subject of this. A common trust and aim possess them ; and hence the not unfavourable auspice.
Line 4 is strong, but it is in an even place, nor is it central. It suggests the idea of a marmot (? or rat), stealthily advancing. Nothing could be more opposed to the ideal of the feudal lord in the hexagram.
In line 5 that lord and his intelligent sovereign meet happily. He holds on his right course, indifferent as to results, but things are so ordered that he is, and will continue to be, crowned with success.
Line 6 is strong, and suggests the idea of its subject to the last continuing his advance, and that not only with firm correctness, but with strong force. The ' horns' are an emblem of threatening strength, and though he uses them only in his own state, and against the rebellious there, that such a prince should have any
occasion to use force is matter for regret.
