Spotlight on Confucianism III: My I-Ching Divination

So far in this series I have looked at Confucianism from a theoretical and intellectual perspective. I have asked 'Is Confucianism a religion?' And, 'How should Westerners think about Eastern traditions such as Confucianism? 

But, we can't forget that Confucianism is also a lived tradition with rituals. 

There are ancestor worship ceremonies at Confucian temples. 

Rarely, there are traditional Confucian weddings. 

And there is Confucian (and Taoist) divination, the subject of this post.

In general, divination seeks knowledge of the future. However, the objective in Confucian divination focuses more on how to proceed with future endeavors and is used for moral self-cultivation. 

Thus, there has to be a relatively well-formed question for the diviner to perform the divination. 

"Will I be wealthy?" would not be a great question as the answer would only be a prediction. 

"How can I get a job more aligned with my interests?" is the question I posed in my divination performed by the Confucian philosopher Bin Song (to whom I am grateful for much of my instruction in Confucianism). 

(This divination was performed sometime ago and I am happy with my current position).

Divination is supported by Confucian metaphysics. Remember that Heaven (T'ien) is subtle, not overt. 

In this world view, Heaven is the metaphysical principle that orders nature. Heaven also gives us moral order. Thus, the subtle order of nature can aid self-cultivation through yarrow stalks (image below) or coins if you listen carefully. 

Confucian divination is a specific ritual, composed of several steps: reading, fasting, meditation, actual divination, interpretation, and verification.

My divination was performed using coins, instead of yarrow stalks. It is faster and more convenient in modern times. (Divination has always been performed with available materials and has been practiced by both commoners and the elite).

The first step of divination is being sincere. You can perform it yourself, have someone else guide you through it, or even do one online. 

This type of divination actually predates Confucius, though his commentaries on the I Ching (Book of Changes) are usually included in modern versions. 

Almost lost to time, the practice of divination was reconstructed by Chu Hsi (1130-1200 C.E.), the great synthesizer of Neo-Confucianism, based on his interpretation of the I Ching and other ancient texts. 

Like many ancient texts there are various interpretative strategies to understand the I Ching. It can be taken philosophically, cosmologically, metaphysically, or practically (in the case of divination). The I-Ching discusses meanings of hexagrams.

Hexagrams are composed of six broken or solid lines. Each line is decided by the toss of three coins. On a coin, tails represents yin and heads represents yang. However, the divination is based on rarity; thus 2 tails and 1 head would be yang, instead of yin. 

Broken lines symbolize yin, the passive, feminine, and covert. Solid lines represent yang, the active, masculine, and overt. These are complementary. 


However, if all three are yin or yang, then this is called a changed line and requires more attention than non-changed lines. Once the coins are tossed you make the line as indicated in the graphic below. Hexagrams are constructed from the bottom up. 

When you have the first three lines you have created a trigram. Each trigram has its own particular meaning derived from the individual yin or yang lines. 

The meaning of the final hexagram is primarily derived from the meanings of its two trigrams and the interpretation of the hexagram in the I Ching.

The I Ching gives the meaning, interpretation, and commentary of all 64 possible hexagram combinations. 

The hexagram that resulted from my divination was Meng (often translated as youthful folly). 

This hexagram evokes the imagery of water flowing down the mountain, thwarted by bumpy rocks at the beginning. But eventually, the water will flow down. 

According to the commentary in the I-Ching, this process is analogous to education. A person without education is the water which can not find its way, but after education the obstacle is removed. 

Each hexagram in the I Ching has a meaning or decision. One translation of the decision based on Meng is:

Childhood.

Prosperous and smooth.

It is not I who seek the ignorant.

The ignorant seeks me.

On the first divination, I give light.

Repeating again is contemptuous.

Being contemptuous, I give no more instruction.

Favorable to be steadfast and upright.

 (From: The Complete I Ching, translated by Taoist Master Alfred Huang). 

Based on the divination process, which included the question and background information, Bin gave me his result of the divination. I needed to uncloud myself by focusing on avoiding bad habits, such as: procrastination, distraction, and disreputable people. 

Also, I still need to find a mentor. (This hasn't happened just yet).

(Confucian divination is admittedly sometimes wrong and avoiding bad habits seemed like a problem I had, while avoiding distracting people did not). 

Bottom line:

I have been procrastinating less and I have a much better job than when I had the divination performed. I am following my interests more consistently (including this blog) and my consistent schedule allows me to do this better. 

Though, I feel like I fell into these improvements (with the help of good friends), and at least not overtly as a result of thinking about this divination. 

I am still unsure how to think about this particular divination or divination based on the I Ching in general. Did it sink in subtly? Perhaps, I can't rule that out.

It's impossible to say, but I can't, nor should, I dismiss it entirely. It's not going to predict the future, but having one performed may help you better think about it.