Yang-Rén-Yang-Yin
The yang draws them on.
Things come out in throngs, opening into the light and going forward.
1
He advances in the dark and it goes wrong.
This is the mother that retreat is born from.
He went crooked before anyone could see.
2
He advances by a measure kept at the center.
Only the great man can see it there.
It is not a thing you could set outside him.
3
Wild, and making a show of it.
He cannot walk down the middle.
There is nothing under his feet.
4
The sun climbs and hangs clear above the shadow.
Everything under it goes soft with warmth.
This is the shape a good reign makes.
5
He advances with a rake that has lost its teeth.
Someone has to hold him up.
He moves at the pleasure of his own house.
6
He advances by being high and clear.
The blessing that comes has no edge to it.
The road he took goes a long way out.
7
He advances by means that are not his.
He hears the fault and stuffs his ears.
The louder it gets, the tighter he packs them.
8
He comes forward as far as the deep water.
The gentleman gets into a boat.
The road is what carries him across.
9
He goes upstream against mountain and river.
Three years, and he does not come back.
Nothing goes on that long against the grain.
THE IMAGE
A noble bronze carriage drawn by four spirited horses steadily ascending an open, sunlit mountain road toward an imperial terrace pavilion gleaming in morning sun, banners fluttering forward in the breeze.
THE COMMENTARY
The way forward is opening, but progress is not simply movement in the direction you prefer. Advancement becomes meaningful when it brings greater clarity, usefulness, responsibility, or participation in the larger order.
This figure asks you to look at the manner of your advance. Some progress is measured and centered; some is theatrical, dependent, or driven by forces that will not support it for long. Moving forward well means that the means of advancement are as sound as the destination.
There may be real momentum now. Use it, but do not become so committed to forward motion that you forget retreat, redirection, or assistance remain legitimate parts of progress.
This figure is one of 81 in Taixuanjing for Today, a book by Joe Perez that renders Yang Xiong’s Canon of Supreme Mystery in original verse, with expanded commentary, essays, and full instructions for casting the oracle yourself.