Hexagram 40: 解

jiě — release, relieve, discharge, resolve, liberate

Upper TrigramThunder

Lower TrigramWater

Judgment

解jiěrelease, relieve, discharge, resolve, liberate

利lìworthwhile, rewarding, productive

西xīwest

南nánsouth

無wúwithout; (with, having) no; lacking; no-

所suǒa place, cause, reason, purpose; -where

往wǎngto go, move towards; in going; ahead

其qíone's (own); the, this

來lái(up)coming, approaching, arriving, next

復fù(in) return, renewal, recovery, revision

吉jípromising, fortunate, opportune, timely

有yǒu(in, if) having; (if) there is, one has

攸yōusomewhere; (a) place, direction, purpose

往wǎngto go, move towards; in going; ahead

夙sùto be early, prompt; dispatch; soon

吉jípromising, fortunate, opportune, timely

Deliverance. The southwest furthers. If there is no longer anything where one has to go, return brings good fortune. If there is still something where one has to go, hastening brings good fortune. Return to ordinary conditions quickly, but handle residual matters immediately.

Image

雷léithunder

雨yǔrain

作zuòset (in, to); do (their) work; create

解jiěrelease

君jūnnoble, worthy, honored

子zǐyoung one, heir, disciple

以yǐaccordingly, therefore, thus

赦shèforgives, pardons, lets go of

過guòtransgressions, excesses, extremes (and)

宥yòudeals leniently; (is) broad-minded; excuses

罪zuì(with, regarding) offenses, wrongs, violations

Thunder and rain set in: the superior man pardons mistakes and forgives misdeeds. Clarity brings deliverance. Don't dwell on unintentional errors. Wash away intentional ones. Move forward.

Digital Artifact

Reboot After System Crash: Clean Sweep Protocol

Every sysadmin who ever fixed a borked system (1983)

The system crashed. Or maybe it didn't crash but got so tangled in bad configuration, orphaned processes, and accumulated cruft that it might as well have crashed. Deliverance isn't recovery—it's the state after recovery begins. Thunder over water: movement escaping from danger, obstacles being resolved. The pressure lifts. Now you have a choice: do you carefully return everything to previous state, or do you clean sweep? Wilhelm says return to ordinary conditions as soon as possible—that's the southwest. But if there are residual matters that ought to be attended to, do it quickly, make a clean sweep, allow no retardations. This is the sysadmin's art: knowing what to restore, what to fix, what to delete entirely. Thunder and rain clearing the air. The superior man doesn't dwell on mistakes (unintentional transgressions—thunder dies away). Forgives misdeeds (intentional ones—water washes clean). The three foxes are the bad configurations that must be removed before real deliverance. The yellow arrow is measured response, straight course. Not panic, not revenge. Just methodical restoration to working state.

Historical Context

Period: Zhou Dynasty
Oracle Bone Etymology: Thunder (☳) above, Water (☵) below—the Arousing over the Abysmal. Movement going out of sphere of danger. Obstacle removed, difficulties resolving.
Traditional Use: Wilhelm describes this as deliverance just beginning, not yet achieved. The southwest (return to ordinary) furthers. If nothing remains to be done, return brings good fortune. If matters remain, hastening brings good fortune.

Lines

Line 1: 無咎

無wúno; nothing; no harm done

咎jiùblame; (is) wrong; making v mistakes

Line 2: 田獲三狐得黃矢貞吉

田tián(in) (a, the) field; (on) (a, the) hunt

獲huò(and) take, trap, capture, catch (s, ing)

三sānthree; a third

狐húfoxes; fox

得déearn, accept, receive, win, get, claim (ing)

黃huánga, the golden, yellow

矢shǐarrow(s)

貞zhēnpersistence, determination, resolve, focus

吉jípromising, auspicious, opportune, timely

Line 3: 負且乘致寇至吝

負fùshouldering, carrying baggage, (a) burden

且qiěwhile, and yet, but (also, now), in addition to

乘chéngmounted; riding (a horse, mount, carriage)

致zhìinviting, encouraging, permitting

寇kòuthieves, robbers, plunderers, predators

至zhìto approach, arrive, come (up)

貞zhēnpersistence; to persist, keep going

吝lìn(is) embarrassing, humiliating, shameful

Line 4: 解而拇朋至斯孚

解jiěrelease, relax, let go, untangle, loosen

而éryour

拇mǔbig toe

朋péng(when) companion, ally, friend, associate (s)

至zhìapproach, arrive, come (up)

斯sī(in, on) them, this

孚fútrust, believe, rely; have faith, confidence v

Line 5: 君子維有解吉有孚于小人

君jūnnoble, worthy, honored

子zǐyoung one, heir, disciple (even)

維wéiin bondage; restrained, confined, tied up

有yǒu(still, yet) has, holds, possesses, owns, retains

解jiěfreedom(s), liberty(ies), relief, solutions

吉jípromising, auspicious, opportune, hopeful

有yǒubeing, hold(s, ing), staying; having, finding

孚fútrue, sincere, confident, assured; truth, etc.

于yúfor; in, with, amidst, among, above

小xiǎo(the) small, ordinary, lesser, common

人rénones, people, individuals, folk

Line 6: 公用射隼于高墉之上獲之無不利

公gōng(the) duke, prince, lord, patriarch, high noble

用yòngtakes, makes, tries

射shè(his) aim at, (a) shot at

隼sǔn(a, the) bird of prey, raptor, hawk, falcon

于yúup on, upon, on, atop

高gāo(a, the) high, tall, lofty

墉yōngbattlement, rampart, (fortified) wall

之zhī...'s

上shàngpeak, top, summit, height, apex, pinnacle

獲huò(to) succeed(ing); (a) success, capture, catch

之zhī(is) here; (at, in, with) this (is, means)

無wúwithout; (there is) nothing

不bùdoubt; (that) (is) not; (which) cannot be

利lìworthwhile, (turned to) advantage(ous)

Practical Guidance

The crisis has passed or is passing. The obstacle has been removed or is being removed. Now comes the critical phase: managing deliverance without creating new problems. Here's the protocol: return to regular order of life as soon as deliverance is achieved. Don't overdo the triumph. The point is not to push on farther than necessary. Just as rain relieves atmospheric tension and makes buds burst open, deliverance has a liberating and stimulating effect—but that doesn't license going wild with changes. The judgment call: if there's nothing left that needs doing, return brings good fortune. Stop. Return to ordinary conditions. Let the system stabilize. But if there are residual matters—orphaned processes, bad configurations, technical debt that contributed to the crisis—hastening brings good fortune. Make a clean sweep. Do it quickly so no retardations occur. The three foxes are the designing elements that caused the obstruction: flattering code that looks clever but causes problems, shortcuts that seemed fine at the time, patterns that don't scale. They must be removed before true deliverance. But remove them with measured response (yellow arrow), straight course. Not with anger, not with vindictiveness. Just methodical elimination of what doesn't work. The superior man's response to mistakes: pardons the unintentional (thunder dies away—someone made a reasonable decision with incomplete information, it didn't work, move on). Forgives the intentional (water washes clean—someone deliberately cut corners, caused damage, but dwelling on it helps nothing). Through clarity brings deliverance. Failure modes: the inferior man who can't adjust to deliverance, continues acting like he's still under pressure, thereby attracting new problems. Or the man who becomes indispensable to false companions during crisis and can't shake them off when deliverance comes—the big toe you must free yourself from so real allies can approach. When the obstruction lifts, act decisively but not excessively. Fix what needs fixing, remove what needs removing, then return to normal operations. The hawk on the high wall—powerful inferior hindering complete deliverance—sometimes must be forcibly removed. But that's the exception. Mostly it's just: recover, clean up, stabilize, return. The cycle continues.

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