I Ching Hexagram 31 - Influence
Description and interpretations of I Ching (Yijing) hexagram 31 "Influence"
咸 - Xián
Trạch Sơn Hàm
Influence
Upper (Outer) Trigram: ☱ Dui, Lake
Lower (Inner) Trigram: ☶ Gen, Mountain
Other Titles: Initiative, Wooing, Attraction, Sensation, Stimulation, Conjoining, Feelings, Sensitivity, Sensing, Affection, Influencing to Action, Tension, Seeking Union, Persuasion, Courting Response, Importuning.
English Translations & Interpretations
The Judgement
Wilhelm/Baynes: Influence. Success. Perseverance furthers. To take a maiden to wife brings good fortune.
Legge: Upon fulfillment of the conditions implied in Initiative, there will be free course and success. Advantage depends upon firm correctness, as in marrying a young lady. Good fortune.
Blofeld: Attraction. Success! Righteous persistence brings reward. Taking a wife will result in good fortune.
Liu: Attraction. Success. To continue is of benefit. To marry a girl is good fortune.
Shaughnessy: Feelings: Receipt; beneficial to determine; to take to wife a woman is auspicious.
Cleary (1): Sensitivity is developmental. It is beneficial to be correct. Marriage brings good fortune.
Cleary (2): Sensing gets through, beneficial if correct. Marriage is auspicious.
Wu: Affection indicates pervasion and advantage to be persevering. There will be good fortune to marry a young woman.
The Image
Wilhelm/Baynes: A lake on the mountain: the image of Influence. Thus the superior man encourages people to approach him by his willingness to receive them.
Legge: The image of a marsh over a mountain forms Initiative. The superior man frees his mind of preoccupation so that he is open to the influence of others. [Lit: "Thus the superior man receives people by virtue of emptiness."]
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a lake situated upon a mountain. In dealing with men, the Superior Man shows himself to be entirely void of selfishness.
Liu: The lake on top of the mountain symbolizes Attraction. With a humble manner the superior man receives people.
Cleary (1): There is a lake on a mountain. Thus does the superior person accept people with openness.
Cleary (2): There is a lake atop a mountain – Sensing. Developed people accept others with openness.
Wu: There is a marsh in the mountain; this is Affection. Thus the jun zi receives people with humility.
Line 1
初六: 咸其拇．
Wilhelm/Baynes: The influence shows itself in the big toe.
Legge: The first line, magnetic, shows one moving her great toes.
Blofeld: Sensation in the toe.
Liu: Stimulation in the big toe. [If you get this line you will plan an undertaking, but if it is planned hastily, it will be difficult to carry out.]
Shaughnessy: Feeling his big toe.
Cleary (1): Sensing in the big toe is inauspicious. [The big toe can move but not walk; to feel something one can not carry out is not right sensing. This is sensitivity that stirs the human mentality.]
Cleary (2): Sensing in the big toe.
Wu: He moves his big toes.
Line 2
六二: 咸其腓, 凶; 居吉．
Wilhelm/Baynes: The influence shows itself in the calves of the legs. Misfortune. Tarrying brings good fortune.
Legge: The second line, magnetic, shows one moving the calves of her legs. There will be evil. If she abides quietly in her place, there will be good fortune.
Blofeld: Sensation in the legs -- misfortune! [I.e. Misfortune if we yield to the urge to exercise our legs by going somewhere else.] Good fortune comes to those who do not venture forth.
Liu: Stimulation in the calves of the legs. Misfortune. Stillness invites good fortune.
Shaughnessy: Feeling his calf; inauspicious; to dwell is auspicious.
Cleary (1): Sensing in the calf is inauspicious. Biding is auspicious.
Cleary (2): Sensing in the calf bodes ill. To stay put bodes well.
Wu: He moves his calves. It will be foreboding. Should he stay, there will be good fortune.
Line 3
九三: 咸其股, 執其隨, 往吝．
Wilhelm/Baynes: The influence shows itself in the thighs. Holds to that which follows it. To continue is humiliating.
Legge: The third line, dynamic, shows one moving his thighs, and keeping close hold of those whom he follows. Going forward in this way will cause regret.
Blofeld: Sensation in the thighs. He cleaves so closely to his wife (handmaiden, etc.) that for him to continue in this manner would be shameful.
Liu: Stimulation in the thighs. If he insists on following, he will be humiliated.
Shaughnessy: Feeling his calf: thigh: holding to his follower; distress.
Cleary (1): Sensing in the thighs; when persistence turns to indulgence, to go on is shameful.
Cleary (2): Sensing in the thighs, when clinging is following, to go on brings shame.
Wu: He moves his thighs and stays close to those he follows. He will regret if he keeps going forward.
Line 4
九四: 貞吉悔亡; 憧憧往來, 朋從爾思．
Wilhelm/Baynes: Perseverance brings good fortune. Remorse disappears. If a man is agitated in mind, and his thoughts go hither and thither, only those friends on whom he fixes his conscious thoughts will follow.
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows that firm correctness which will lead to good fortune, and prevent all occasion for repentance. If its subject be unsettled in his movements, only his friends will follow his purposes.
Blofeld: Righteous persistence brings good fortune and regret vanishes; but only friends and immediate followers will waste their thoughts on one who dithers irresolutely to and fro.
Liu: To carry on reaps good fortune; remorse disappears. If his mind is not quiet and his thoughts go back and forth, only his friends will follow his ideas.
Shaughnessy: Determination is auspicious; regret is gone. So undecided going and coming, a friend follows you in thought.
Cleary (1): Rectitude brings good fortune, and regret disappears. Coming and going with an unsettled mind: companions follow your thoughts. [Thoughts that “come along with companions” obscure the mind of Tao by the human mentality.]
Cleary (2): Correctness brings good fortune, and regret disappears. Coming and going ceaselessly, companions follow your thoughts.
Wu: From perseverance will come auspiciousness. Regret will fade away. His mind vacillates, but his friends will be able to follow his thoughts.
Line 5
九五: 咸其脢, 无悔．
Wilhelm/Baynes: The influence shows itself in the back of the neck. No remorse.
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows one moving the flesh along the spine above the heart. There will be no occasion for repentance.
Blofeld: Sensation in the fleshy covering of the spinal column -- no regret.
Liu: Stimulation in the middle of the back. No remorse. [Conflict. Perhaps one's strong opinions ... will create discord ... One can expect difficulty in carrying out his plans. Only small ventures will succeed.]
Shaughnessy: Feeling his (thigh:) spine; there is no regret.
Cleary: Sensing in the flesh of the back, there is no regret. [What separates the mind of Tao from the human (ego) mind is but a hairbreadth; sensing it in the flesh of the back means it is near the heart …The mind that is not mind is called the true mind … It is open awareness unobscured … This is sensitivity preserving the mind of Tao without the human mentality.]
Wu: He moves his upper back muscles. There will be no regret.
Line 6
上六: 咸其輔, 頰, 舌．
Wilhelm/Baynes: The influence shows itself in the jaws, cheeks, and tongue.
Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows one moving her jaws and tongue.
Blofeld: Sensation in the jaws and the tongue.
Liu: Stimulation in the jaws and tongue.
Shaughnessy: Feeling his cheeks, jowls, and tongue.
Cleary: Sensing in the jaws and tongue. [When the mouth moves, the mind moves. This is sensitivity using the human mentality, utterly lacking the mind of Tao.]
Wu: He moves his tongue and cheeks.
Notes
For an in-depth glossary of I Ching, click here.
Hexagram 31 can mean to feel and respond; feeling what you have to do with the heart. To accept a partner now brings good fortune. It is the law that compatible elements are drawn together.
It also suggests a bonding like a marriage between a couple or a merge of two companies. You attract people by being approachable, not by pushing for a connection.
Your sincerity and suitability will become obvious to them without any work on your part. Be yourself and those that belong in your life will accept you.
