Misfortune
Carried by forty-two chapters
In the constellation
Misfortune is the oracle's basic unfavorable verdict, the counterpart of Good Fortune. In the Great Treatise's formula the two are "images of gain and loss," and Wilhelm explains that in human affairs "the condition of harmony assures good fortune, that of disharmony predicates misfortune." Misfortune is thus the mark of a course at odds with the time or with what is correct — persistence in a wrong position, or force applied where yielding is required.
Crucially, the Book of Changes treats misfortune as intelligible and largely avoidable: it is announced in advance precisely so that it may be forestalled by a change of conduct. The graver warnings shade into the lesser signs of Remorse and Humiliation, which mark the first small deviations before loss becomes complete. To read misfortune rightly is to be warned in time.
Where the thread runs
- 03 Difficulty at the Beginning
- 06 Conflict
- 07 The Army
- 08 Holding Together
- 09 The Taming Power of the Small
- 10 Treading
- 13 Fellowship with Men
- 16 Enthusiasm
- 17 Following
- 19 Approach
- 21 Biting Through
- 23 Splitting Apart
- 24 Return
- 25 Innocence
- 26 The Taming Power of the Great
- 27 Corners of the Mouth
- 28 Preponderance of the Great
- 29 The Abysmal
- 30 The Clinging, Fire
- 31 Influence
- 32 Duration
- 34 The Power of the Great
- 41 Decrease
- 42 Increase
- 43 Break-through
- 44 Coming to Meet
- 47 Oppression
- 48 The Well
- 49 Revolution
- 50 The Caldron
- 51 The Arousing
- 53 Development
- 54 The Marrying Maiden
- 55 Abundance
- 56 The Wanderer
- 57 The Gentle
- 58 The Joyous, Lake
- 60 Limitation
- 61 Inner Truth
- 62 Preponderance of the Small
- 63 After Completion
- 64 Before Completion