The trigram above LI – The Clinging, Fire
The trigram below SUN – The Gentle, Wind, Wood
General: The nourishment of body, mind and spirit is the key to a harmonious existence.
Love: Enjoying the harmonious aspects of your relationship will help deepen the bonds between you and your partner.
Business: Focus on business that will transform your affairs and make sure that you deal with everything in a sophisticated manner.
Personal: Strengthen the bonds between you and those most important to you by hosting a meal of some sort.
The six lines construct the image of Ting, THE CALDRON; at the bottom are the legs, over them the belly, then come the ears (handles), and at the top the carrying rings. At the same time, the image suggests the idea of nourishment. The ting, a cast of bronze, was the vessel that held the cooked viands in the temple of the ancestors and at banquets. The head of the family served the food from the ting into the bowls of the guests.
THE WELL (48) likewise has the secondary meaning of giving nourishment, but rather more in relation to the people. The ting, as a utensil pertaining to a refined civilization, suggests the fostering and nourishing of able men, which resounded to the benefit of the state.
This hexagram and THE WELL are the only two in the Book of Changes that represent concrete, man-made objects. Yet here too the thought has its abstract connotation.
Sun, below, is wood and wind; Li, above, is flame. Thus together they stand for the flame kindled by wood and wind, which likewise suggests the idea of preparing food.
