Yin-Yin-Yang-Yang
The yang breath is even, unmixed, clear and bright.
Things all double their light and keep the brightness they were given.
1
Unmixed on the inside.
Clear, with nothing foul in it.
Nothing had to be taken out.
2
In the dark the mottled thing puts on purity.
It fools whoever is looking.
The shame stays where nobody looks.
3
The eyes go up as far as heaven.
The ears go down as far as the gorge.
He is careful, having found out how far he reaches.
4
The small man admires the unmixed thing.
He loses the salary and the straightness both.
Admiring is not the same road.
5
Unmixed down in the dark yellow.
Straight from the start, and no one direction to it.
It works the way the ground works.
6
The great unmixed thing takes a flaw.
Easily.
White jade marks; clear water dirties.
7
There is a fault in the clear hour.
The gentleman mends it.
Mending is a thing he is good at.
8
Purely bad, and no good anywhere in it.
It is unmixed too.
There is nothing here that could be helped.
9
At the end, unmixed as at the beginning.
Upright.
He finished the way he started.
THE IMAGE
A master lapidary polishing a pristine disc of flawless white Hetian jade in a sunlit pavilion beside a lotus pool, where the clear spring water reflects the unclouded azure sky and blooming white blossoms.
THE COMMENTARY
The matter asks for clarity of substance. Something becomes trustworthy when there is little division between what it appears to be and what it actually is.
Purity here does not mean perfection untouched by life. Clear water can be muddied and jade can be marked; what matters is whether the underlying nature remains capable of being restored. Genuine integrity includes the ability to recognize and mend a flaw.
Be especially cautious of purity as appearance or performance. The most convincing imitation may hide corruption precisely because observers are looking only at the surface. Seek what remains clean when no one is watching.
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.