The Book of Changes, Hard Times, and When to Seek Out Helpers

     The I Ching, or Book of Changes, has many hexagrams that give advice on how to cope when a hard time, such as disease or famine, has fallen upon you. All the hexagrams have a common theme of persevering. One should persevere because then better times are sure to come. There are two ways to persevere in the Book of Changes: with or without helpers. Helpers, a term used by the book, is a term used to signify other people in general. These people are helpers simply because they are helping you in your time of need. To persevere without helpers is to have much inner strength.

     It is my opinion that when one encounters a hard time, one must have a good sense of self and much inner strength to truly persevere through it. If one seeks help from others right away, those others might alter that person’s sense of self and make the person someone who he or she does not want to become. Sometimes changing one’s sense of self is beneficial to the individual but more often than not it proves to be detrimental. I believe that someone must of concrete sense of self to aid them in enduring through the hard time. If this sense of self does not prove to be enough for the individual, then he or she should seek help from others. Hence, my advice for persevering through a hard time is the same for whatever the hard time may be. However, the Book of Changes, as we shall see, advises based on the situation at hand.

     First, I will discuss situations in which the Book of Changes recommends seeking help from others. Hexagrams three and twenty-nine are both good examples. According to the book, the situations these hexagrams describe lend themselves to outside help.

     Hexagram three is entitled “Difficulty at the Beginning”. The fundamental image associated with this hexagram is that of a new blade of grass, or other type of plant, pushing through the hard earth. When one first plants a seed, it roots itself into the ground before it struggles to break through the earth and it almost seems as if the plant is not growing at all. But then it does indeed break through the earth and shows that it is alive and growing and that the hard part is over.

     This hexagram mentions getting help from others numerous times. The judgment says,

DIFFICULTY AT THE BEGINNING works supreme success,
Further through perseverance.
Nothing should be undertaken.
It further one to appoint helpers (16).

The lines also suggest getting help from others in two places. The first says,

Nine at the beginning means:
Hesitation and hindrance.
It furthers one to remain persevering.
It furthers one to appoint helpers (17).

The second reads,

Six in the third place means:
Whoever hunts deer without the forester
Only loses his way in the forest.
The superior man understands the signs of the time
And prefers to desist.
To go on brings humiliation (18).

As one can see, this hexagram is strongly rooted in the need to seek help from others.

The description of how and why to seek help from others found in the third line is particularly interesting. If someone were to try and hunt deer in a forest by themselves, he would probably get lost and when he finally did return home, he would have no meat for his family. Hence, he would bring humiliation upon himself. However, if goes with a forester, someone is familiar with the forest and where to find deer, he will be very successful in his hunt. Hence, we can see that in this situation it is indeed beneficial to seek help from others rather than trying to persevere by oneself.

Hexagram twenty-nine also presents a situation that lends itself to help from others. However, it does so in a much different way. This hexagram is entitled “The Abysmal”. This hexagram entails not so much perseverance but becoming accustomed to the situation at hand. The image of this hexagram reads,

Water flows on uninterruptedly and reaches its goal:
The image of the Abysmal repeated.
Thus the superior man walks in lasting virtue
And carries on the business of teaching (116).

As one can see, this hexagram is not so much about getting help from others as using the other people to help you, and them, become accustomed to this new situation. If the superior man goes on teaching as if nothing cataclysmic has occurred, then the other people will follow in his actions. Hence order will prevail despite the hard time that has befallen the village. If the superior man keeps to himself, as we shall soon cases in which the Book of Changes suggests doing so, there would be no actions for the lesser people to imitate. The consequences associated with the hard time would then be seen in the village and getting accustomed to this hard time would prove to be difficult. So, the superior man and the others work together to help themselves become accustomed to this new situation.

We have seen two situations in which the Book of Changes advises seeking others to help oneself persevere through a hard time. Now we will look at two situations where the Book Changes advises looking inwardly at oneself for the way to persevere through the hard time. Hexagrams twelve and thirty-six are good examples of this advice.

Hexagram twelve is entitled “Standstill” or “Stagnation”. This is a hexagram in which is happening. The world is at a standstill and there is no one to turn to for help. Therefore, one must look at himself to persevere because he is the only option. The image reads,

Heaven and earth do not unite:
The image of STANDSTILL.
Thus the superior man falls back upon his inner worth
In order to escape the difficulties.
He does not permit himself to be honored with revenue (53).

Here, we see the Book of Changes advising inner reflection because the outer world is so uncertain. Should the superior man allow himself to be honored with revenue, he could believe himself better than he is, if this revenue is found to be false. Because the world is at a standstill, one cannot be sure about the verity of things so it is better to look at yourself and have your own sense of self and self-worth rather than looking to others to gain them.

The final hexagram, hexagram thirty-six, is entitled “Darkening of the Light”. This primary associated with this images is that of being reserved. The image of this hexagram reads,

The light has sunk into the earth:
The image of DARKENING OF THE LIGHT.
Thus does the superior man live with the great mass:
He veils his light, yet still shines (140).

Here, we truly see a darkening of the light. The superior man, due to the hard time, must hide his superiority. Therefore, he lives among the common folk and withholds his superiority from the majority. Were he to try to enlist others in helping him to hide his greatness, rumors of his greatness may be spread throughout the village and then the superior man’s life would be in danger. Therefore, he must keep to himself and remain humble and persevere until the hard time has passed.

In conclusion, we have seen two ways to persevere through hard times. One is to seek others, the other is to stay reserved and introverted. Whether or not one utilizes one of these options is dependant on the situation at hand. I said at the beginning that I thought this situation based way of handling hard times seemed a bit faulty. However, I can see its merit; both in ancient China and in today’s society. However, I still feel that the hard times experienced by ancient China were much different than those experienced in the twenty-first century. Therefore, a situation based way of coping may have been much more useful then than it is now. I still believe that nowadays one should look at themselves during the hard time before enlisting the help of others. However, I highly doubt that the writers of the Book of Changes could have ever imaged a world like ours in the twenty-first century and it is not very fair to evaluate their methods of dealing with hard times by our standards. If I were living in ancient China, I am sure I would have consulted the Book of Changes and taken its advice much more to heart.

© April 27, 2001

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