Atlas Trail
The Dragon and the Earth: Reading the Lines of the First Two Hexagrams
This path walks the lines of the first two hexagrams of the Book of Changes in order, as James Legge renders them: the six lines of The Creative, which follow a dragon from hiding to overreach, and then the lines of The Receptive, the yielding counterpart whose last line brings the dragons back. Read together they show how the same six places, from the lowest to the topmost, mean one thing for a firm line and another for a yielding one. The fifth line of The Receptive is left off the path because its page does not yet carry a source for the wording of the line text.
Stop 1 of 11.
Hexagram Lines
The lowest line of The Creative is the hidden dragon, submerged and not yet active. Legge reads the line as the dragon lying hid in the deep, its power genuine but the time not yet right for active doing, and the line sits in the lowest place of the lower trigram Qian.
Stop 2 of 11.
Hexagram Lines
In the second place the dragon appears in the field and is visible to others for the first time. Legge says the line advises seeking out a great man, because the second place is where capacity first becomes visible.
Stop 3 of 11.
Hexagram Lines
The image changes from dragon to superior man, active and vigilant all day and still apprehensive by evening. The page describes the strain of the topmost place of the lower trigram, a position that is precarious but blameless if vigilance holds.
Stop 4 of 11.
Hexagram Lines
The dragon looks as if about to leap yet still hovers over the depths. The line stands at the base of the upper trigram, a threshold where testing the moment before committing draws no fault.
Stop 5 of 11.
Hexagram Lines
The dragon flies in the heavens. This is the ruling line of the hexagram, in the central place of the upper trigram, where creative power reaches its rightful height and it is advantageous to meet a great person.
Stop 6 of 11.
Hexagram Lines
The sequence ends with the dragon exceeding its proper limits and occasion for repentance. Legge's reading is that the topmost place carries force with no position left to answer to, so overreach at the summit brings regret.
Stop 7 of 11.
Hexagram Lines
The first yielding line begins again at the lowest place, now with treading on hoarfrost. Legge renders it as a small early sign that solid ice will follow, showing what a yielding course becomes if left unchecked.
Stop 8 of 11.
Hexagram Lines
Where the Creative's second line sought out a great man, this central line is straight, square and great. Legge says its operation needs no repeated effort to succeed, the receptive way acting without artifice.
Stop 9 of 11.
Hexagram Lines
Hidden lines and veiled brilliance describe a capacity kept under restraint and placed at another's service rather than claimed outright. Keeping firm allows eventual completion, at the topmost place of the lower trigram just before the hexagram turns upward.
Stop 10 of 11.
Hexagram Lines
The image is a sack tied up, drawing neither blame nor praise. At the lowest place of the upper trigram the counsel is caution and withdrawal, for a moment when speaking out would not be safe.
Stop 11 of 11.
Hexagram Lines
The dragons return at the top: they fight in the wild until their blood runs purple and yellow. Legge's reading is that pure yielding pressed past its limit collides with the creative force and both are wounded.
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