無妄 Innocence

Also known as The Unexpected

Action that is unselfconscious, spontaneous, true to origin. The figure warns against calculation: any motive that is not clean will be exposed.

innocence · spontaneity · unexpected

The Story

A farmer set out before dawn and ploughed his field as he had been taught. He did not brood on the harvest; he did not calculate his debts; he walked the furrow with the ox. At noon his neighbor, who had been scheming all morning about which field to plant and whether to sell or store, found his own ox lamed in a pit he had been too distracted to see. The farmer's furrow that day was the longest and straightest in the valley. To act without calculation is not naive. It is to let the deed itself do its own teaching.

Before Dawn Furrow panel 1 for Hexagram 25, Innocence. — Before Dawn Furrow

Walking With The Ox panel 2 for Hexagram 25, Innocence. — Walking With The Ox

Neighbor Scheming panel 3 for Hexagram 25, Innocence. — Neighbor Scheming

Pit Unseen panel 4 for Hexagram 25, Innocence. — Pit Unseen

Longest Straightest Furrow panel 5 for Hexagram 25, Innocence. — Longest Straightest Furrow

Deed Teaching Itself panel 6 for Hexagram 25, Innocence. — Deed Teaching Itself

The Judgment

Supreme success. Perseverance furthers. If someone is not as they should be, they have misfortune, and it does not further them to undertake anything.

The Image

Under heaven, thunder rolls: all things attain the natural state of innocence. Thus the kings of old, rich in virtue and in harmony with the time, fostered and nourished all beings.

Interpretation

Action that is unselfconscious, spontaneous, true to origin. The figure warns against calculation: any motive that is not clean will be exposed. The reward belongs to the simple heart; schemes misfire.

Trigrams

Upper · Outer

乾

Qián · Heaven

the creative, strong, active

Lower · Inner

震

Zhèn · Thunder

the arousing, shock, movement

The Six Lines

First (Bottom) Innocent behavior brings good fortune. Going straightforwardly — the right beginning.
Second If one does not count on the harvest while ploughing, nor on the use of the ground while clearing it, it furthers one to undertake something. Work without greedy expectation; right conduct attracts its own return.
Third Undeserved misfortune. The cow that was tethered by someone is the wanderer's gain, the citizen's loss. Innocent bystanders may bear the cost when things go wrong; accept the unfair break without bitterness.
Fourth He who can be persevering remains without blame. Hold to what you know is sound.
Fifth Use no medicine in an illness incurred through no fault of your own. It will pass of itself. Do not overtreat what will resolve naturally.
Sixth (Top) Innocent action brings misfortune. Nothing furthers. Even innocence must respect the time; acting now, however pure, is premature.