Yin-Yang-Yin-Yin
The yang breath stretches high and holds all things level.
The ten thousand things spread out bright, handsome, great and many.
1
War starts in the dark; the word goes in like fire at the ear.
The ploughing stops, the horses are put on grain.
The bodies are already being laid out in the fields.
2
The weapons have no edge, the army has no line.
The unicorn comes in as a guest.
There is no direction from which this is resisted.
3
The carts are already fouled with each other.
The head of the house has wrecked his own household.
The crack was stepped on at home.
4
The tiger roars and the whole camp lifts.
The leopard masters its own hunger.
The hawk goes up and does not stoop.
5
Hunched to fight, and loud about it, bear and dragon.
They win by being stronger.
Nothing under this is going to submit.
6
Great arms come on like thunder in the ear.
The point of it is to bend what is inside them.
Nothing is killed and everything gives way.
7
The banners are caught up in nets, the axes piled anyhow.
The widows come to console each other, weeping, watching sidelong.
The people have started to hate somebody.
8
The war goes thin, and thinner.
You can see the sickness; you do not see the corpse-carts.
Nothing came off the blade.
9
The blade is chipped and the handle is broken.
He could stop here. He cannot strike.
If he goes on, it is his own blood.
THE IMAGE
A vast assembly of citizens, scholars, farmers, and soldiers gathering peacefully in the wide outer courtyard of the imperial capital beneath billowing standards, acting with one collective will.
THE COMMENTARY
Many people, interests, or forces are gathered together, and leadership becomes decisive. A crowd can become a community, an organization, an army, or a mob depending on what gives it form.
The Host asks how collective power is being directed. Strength in numbers is not enough; without discipline, proportion, and a purpose worthy of allegiance, the very size of the group can magnify confusion and harm.
If you are responsible for others, govern the force before unleashing it. If you are one among many, notice what kind of collective you are lending your strength to. A group reveals its character not only by what it can defeat but by what it does with power when opposition begins to yield.