35. Jìn 晉

The top step finds the sunrise already finished: the outward brilliance still holds, but no deep content is left behind it. Hard protrusions for show are all the situation has at its disposal, and it is sensible to apply them only inward, for putting one's own domain in order. For anything more — for the broad generosity in the spirit of the fifth step — the strength is gone. The position is troubling, and still it leads to good: a modest task is within reach. But to persist as though the zenith were still going on means preparing regret for oneself.

The fifth line is the luminary at its highest point. The light is given out in every direction at once, and the very thought of reward becomes superfluous: noon keeps no tally of those it has warmed. The experience gathered earlier and the fresh force of manifestation come together here, and so the position is free of regrets. The personal balance of losses and findings stops being a measure at this height — what counts is the volume given away, not the remainder in one's own account. Such generosity meets nothing unfavourable.

The fourth position opens the outer half of the sign, and its first temptation is to occupy a height without the matching content. That substitution is conveyed by the image of a hamster: a small creature that has crept into a conspicuous place, and in an old cautionary tale a cheap article passed off as a costly one. While the counterfeit does not insist on itself, it is merely comic; persistence in a false standing makes it dangerous. The longer one clings to an undeserved height, the heavier the denouement turns out to be.

The third step is usually a crisis: the passage from inner growth to outer rarely goes without tension. In this sign the passage coincides with the very sense of the situation, so the crisis is lifted — going outward here is not a risk but the natural continuation of the sunrise. The person is noticed at last, and the movement is backed no longer by a single patron but by many. The general agreement of those around puts out the grounds for regrets: what might once have gnawed as a mistake dissolves in recognition.

The second position is the middle of the inner trigram, and outward activity is not yet its due. For a situation whose whole point is going outward, such dwelling within turns into depression: the movement around has started while you are still inside. The sign does not advise forcing the exit. Steadfastness in this cramped state draws help from above by itself — from the one who holds the governing fifth position and is linked to the second line by inner correspondence. The support comes as a favour that was never begged for.

The first movement of the sunrise looks ambiguous from outside: a person moves forward, then draws back, and observers easily take this for indecision or for giving up the goal. There is no trust yet, and nothing on this step can earn it — the light has not risen far enough to be told apart from dusk. The sign's answer is twofold: hold the chosen direction without being thrown by the waverings of the visible line, and meet other people's mistrust generously, without offence and without justifications. Then there will be no reproaches, and the future chance of a bright showing stays untouched.