Devotion

Devotion is the defining attribute of THE RECEPTIVE — the yielding, earthlike power that completes rather than initiates. Wilhelm is careful that devotion is not weakness but a chosen relation:

the attribute of devotion defines the place occupied by this primal power in relation to the Creative. For the Receptive must be activated and led by the Creative; then it is productive of good.

Its practical rule is given in the Judgment of hexagram 2:

If the superior man undertakes something and tries to lead,
He goes astray;
But if he follows, he finds guidance.

Devotion is the strength of the mare — tireless, carrying, "of a mare" perseverance — that "carries all things, good and evil, without exception." It is the yin counterpart to the creative initiative, and it undergirds the receptive virtues of following, service, and quiet constancy.