I Ching vernacular full translation

Chapter 9
The Shi hexagram is composed of the lower ridge and the upper kun. The hexagram is shaped as "", which symbolizes "soldiers".The upper hexagram "Kun" is the earth, and the lower hexagram "Kan" is water: the source of water is stored underground, which means that "soldiers" are stored among the people.The whole hexagram expounds various military rules such as marching troops, selecting generals, advancing and retreating, etc., and contains certain elements of ancient military thought that can be used for reference.

Teacher: Zhen.The father-in-law is lucky, and there is no blame.

"彖" said: "Master, everyone."Zhen, Zheng also.If you can be righteous with all, you can be king.Responding to the right, taking risks and going smoothly, poisoning the world with this, and the people follow it, what is the "auspiciousness"?

"Xiang" says: There is water in the ground, master.A gentleman accommodates people and animals.

Translated Master Hexagram: Keep the right way and take the wise elders as the commander, it will be auspicious and there will be no disasters.

"Zhuan Zhuan" said: "A teacher means soldiers."Zhen means uprightness.If you can make a large number of troops uphold the righteous way, you will be able to achieve the king's career.The commander is strong and in the center, and corresponds to the king; conducts dangerous wars, and can obtain the obedience of the soldiers.It is an auspicious sign to attack the world with these things, and the people are willing to obey. How can there be a disaster?
"Xiang Zhuan" says: The lower hexagram is Kan, and Kan is water; the upper hexagram is Kun, and Kun is earth, like "there is water in the ground", which is the hexagram image of Shi hexagram.When a gentleman observes this hexagram, he takes the law from the earth that accommodates rivers and rivers, and accommodates and raises the masses.

The interpreter's hexagram is Kun and Earth on the top, Kan and water on the bottom, which is the image of water gathering in the ground.Water is stored in the ground, which is inexhaustible and inexhaustible, which symbolizes that soldiers are stored in the people, and is also inexhaustible.The people are the foundation of the army, and the people are the source of the soldiers.Therefore, a gentleman should follow the example of the earth to store water, and pay attention to nourishing the people in peacetime, so that the source of soldiers will not be cut off in wartime. "Xiang Zhuan" discusses soldiers directly to the source.

The sixth day: the teacher comes out with the law, if it is not good, it is fierce.

"Xiang" said: "The teacher comes out with the law, and the loss of the law is also fierce."

Translation: The sixth day of the lunar month: The whole army depends on discipline, and if discipline is not observed, there will be danger.

"Xiang Zhuan" said: The whole army depends on discipline, and the loss of discipline will bring danger.

Interpretation of the sixth day pointed out that discipline is the life of the army.When sending troops to fight, military discipline comes first.Only by being a teacher of temperance and acting according to the law can we be invincible.The beginning of the division hexagram of the sixth branch of the first day is the image of the first departure of the soldiers.It's a pity that it is femininity, which symbolizes weak talents, and it is likely that it will not be able to "teach the law", so it is warned with the serious consequences of "no shame" and "fierce".Instead of saying "auspicious", we say "no evil", which has another meaning.Because "teaching with the law" is only a prerequisite for victory, not the only condition, and the outcome cannot be predicted based on this alone, so it cannot be judged as "auspicious", but if the military discipline is poor, the battle will inevitably be defeated, so "no Zang" can be concluded as "fierce".

Ninety-two: In the teacher, Zhongji, no blame.Wang Sanxi ordered.

"Xiang" said: In the teacher, Zhongji, and inherit the favor of heaven.Wang Sanxi's life, cherishes all nations.

Translation Ninety-two: Leading the army and keeping the middle path will bring good luck and no disasters.The king has awarded awards many times.

"Xiang Zhuan" said: leading the army to keep the middle way, you can get auspiciousness, which shows that you have received the favor of the emperor.The king has given orders and awards many times, which shows that he has the ambition to appease the world.

The reading points out the importance of the commander being trusted by the king.Nine-two is the only Yang line in this hexagram, and it is the master of a hexagram, symbolizing the commander-in-chief who leads the troops.The general is appointed by the king to go out to fight, and he is given the right to command the army. Otherwise, he would not be able to fight;This requires the commander-in-chief to be good at grasping the appropriate measure, and this measure is "medium".If you are in the middle, you will not be biased. If you stick to the middle way, there will be no deviation.Such a commander will be trusted, favored and rewarded by the king, so "good luck without blame", so "Wang Sanxi's life". At the end of "Xiang Zhuan", it specifically pointed out that "Huai Wanbang also" is intended to be rewarded by the king three times to the generals who have made great achievements in battle. It is not to encourage militarism, but to end the war quickly and appease the people of all directions. The generals should understand this. .Here again, the need to uphold the justice of war must be emphasized, with the intention of preventing victory from getting carried away and war from escaping the track of justice.

Six three: Master or dead body, fierce.

"Xiang" said: "A teacher or a dead body is useless."

Translation [-]: When the army goes out, someone returns with a dead body. This is a bad omen.

"Xiang Zhuan" said: When the army went out, some people returned with corpses, which means that the front has suffered a defeat.

Interpretation of June [-]rd symbolizes that the generals who lead the army have little strength but heavy responsibilities, lack of talent but strong ambition, regardless of the disadvantages of subjective and objective conditions, greedy for merit, and blindly take risks.This line warns us that people like Liusan have great ambitions and few talents, and they are definitely not the talents of generals. We must never appoint such people to lead the army, otherwise there will be danger.There are many such lessons in the history of Chinese warfare. For example, Zhao Kuo of Zhao State in the Warring States Period annihilated the entire army in Changping, and Ma Ji of the Shu Han Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms period was defeated in Jieting.The words "Yushi" in the sixth and third lines emphasize the lessons exchanged for blood, which is particularly impressive!
June Fourth: Teacher Zuoci, no blame.

"Xiang" said: Zuo Ci is not to blame, and he is not abnormal.

Translation Six Fourth: The army retreated and garrisoned, and there were no disasters.

"Xiang Zhuan" said: retreating and stationing, there is no disaster, which shows that the common law of using troops has not been lost.

Interpretation of June [-] shows that when the conditions are unfavorable, knowing that there is no strength to move forward and win for a while, so temporarily take a step back and stand still.Although it has been useless for the time being, after all, it has preserved its strength, and can wait for the situation to change, wait for an opportunity to attack, and switch from defense to offense at any time. This does not violate the rules of using troops.Prudence is the norm in the art of war. I am afraid that most people do not understand this and think that the June Fourth retreat was cowardice. Therefore, "Xiang Zhuan" specifically stated: "It is not abnormal."

Sixth Five-Year: There are poultry in the field, benefit and speak out, no blame.The eldest son is a handsome teacher, and the disciple is a dead body, chaste and fierce.

"Elephant" says: The eldest son is good at the teacher, and he is also good at it.It is not appropriate for the disciple to publicize the corpse.

Translation Six Five: There are beasts in the field, and it is beneficial to catch them, but there are no disasters.The upright elders can lead troops to fight, but the mediocre boys will return home in defeat.Keeping the right way can prevent evil.

"Xiang Zhuan" said: The upright elders can lead troops to fight, which shows that [-] can act in the middle way.The mediocre boy will be defeated with his corpse, which shows that the appointment of generals is inappropriate.

Interpretation of "There are poultry in the field, and Li Zhiyan" means that if there are animals in the field that damage the crops, you can catch them. The famous battle of justice, of course this battle should be fought.The last few sentences of Yaoci talk about the gains and losses of appointing generals.The upright elders can lead troops to fight, but the mediocre boys can only fail.Therefore, at the end of Yaoci, he issued a warning to keep the righteousness and guard against the evil. Employing people must be upright, and appointing people on their merits is the right way to prevent danger.If the intention is not correct, it is fierce.

Upper Six: The majesty has a destiny, founding the country and inheriting the family.Small people do not use.

"Xiang" said: The maharaja has life, so he can use righteous work.Don't use it for a villain, it will cause chaos.

Translation [-]: The monarch issues orders, rewards meritorious officials, or enfeoffs them as vassals, or appoints them as officials.The villain cannot be reused.

"Xiang Zhuan" said: The king issued orders to evaluate meritorious deeds.A villain cannot be reused, because reusing a villain will inevitably cause turmoil in the country.

Interpretation of the upper sixth is the end of the teacher's hexagram, which symbolizes the end of the war and the triumphant return of the army squad. It is time to reward the merits.According to the degree of meritorious service, some ordered him to establish a country as a prince, and some ordered him to have a family as a doctor, and let him enjoy the land and title separately.However, special attention should be paid to the principle of "don't use villains" when conferring rewards. "Little people" have talent but no virtue. Even if they have made military exploits, they can only be rewarded with money, silk and farmland.The villain is an unstable factor. If they have real power, they will wait for the opportunity to cause chaos, which will inevitably endanger the country.I'm afraid Fang Ping will suffer from foreign troubles and internal strife will arise again, so we have to guard against it.This hexagram has repeatedly emphasized that a gentleman should not be a villain.It is especially worth noting when the war is won and the hero is rewarded, so as not to grant power to the villain and plant the root of disaster.

In short, there are a lot of warnings in this hexagram, and the auspicious judgments of the six lines are also more ominous than good, emphasizing that the weapon of a soldier is a weapon, and one should be cautious when using soldiers.Quan Gua can be called the general outline of the ancient art of war, expressing the basic strategic and tactical thinking.Liu Yao shows the whole process of using soldiers to fight a war and the gist of commanding a war. It is not only an important material for studying ancient military thought, but also a great inspiration for planning strategies for life and career.

(End of this chapter)