{"collection":"The I Ching, Legge tr.","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_ich_ic46_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_ich_ic46_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_ich_ic46_htm","license":"unknown_pending_legal_review","rights_basis":"sacred_texts_v1_preview_gate_primary_text_only; acquisition-method/ToS and compilation-copyright questions still open, not resolved by this gate","source":"sacred_texts_v1","source_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/ich/ic46.htm","summary":"This is an excerpt from James Legge's 19th-century English translation and commentary on Hexagram 46 (Sh\u0103ng/\u5347) of the *I Ching* (Book of Changes), the ancient Chinese divination classic. The hexagram concerns upward advancement \u2014 specifically the steady, virtuous rise of a capable official through the ranks to the highest distinction. Each of the six line readings traces a stage of this ascent, from humble beginnings welcomed by superiors, through bold middle advancement, to a peak of ceremonious success, and finally a warning against blind, overreaching ambition after the goal has been achieved.\n\nThe commentary draws on traditional Chinese interpretive sources (K\u00fb Hs\u00ee, the Khang-hs\u00ee editors, and the Jesuit P. Regis) to link symbolic elements \u2014 trigram positions, strong and weak lines, directional symbolism \u2014 to specific moral and political lessons. A notably concrete claim appears in the commentary on Line 4, where Legge suggests the historical reference to Mount Kh\u00ee lifts the text from pure symbolism into actual history, identifying \"the king\" as the last Shang-dynasty sovereign and the feudal prince as the legendary King W\u0103n. The overarching moral argument is that advancement succeeds through modesty, sincerity, and knowing when to stop \u2014 the final line stands as a caution that even legitimate success becomes dangerous when pursued without restraint.","tags":[],"text":null,"title":"The I Ching, Legge tr.: Text Section II: XLVI. The Sh...","tradition":"The I Ching, Legge tr.","translated_text":null,"word_count":701}