Hexagram 56 (The Wanderer)

Laurie Anderson: Another Day in America

Sun Ra: Spontaneous Simplicity

HEXAGRAM 56:
The Wanderer
above LI---THE CLINGING, FIRE
below KÊN---KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

The mountain, Kên, stands still; above it fire, Li, flames up and does not tarry. Therefore the two trigrams do not stay together. Strange lands and separation are the wanderer’s lot.

THE JUDGMENT
The Wanderer. Success through smallness.
Perseverance brings good fortune
To the Wanderer.

When a man is a wanderer and stranger, he should not be gruff nor overbearing. He has no large circle of acquaintances, therefore he should not give himself airs. He must be cautious and reserved; in this way he protects himself from evil. If he is obliging toward others, he wins success.
A wanderer has no fixed abode; his home is the road. Therefore he must take care to remain upright and steadfast, so that he sojourns only in the proper places, associating only with good people. Then he has good fortune and can go his way unmolested.

THE IMAGE
Fire on the mountain:
The image of THE WANDERER.
Thus the superior man
Is clear–minded and cautious
In imposing penalties,
And protracts no lawsuits.

When grass on a mountain takes fire, there is bright light. However, the fire does not linger in one place, but travels on to new fuel. It is a phenomenon of short duration. This is what penalties and lawsuits should be like. They should be a quickly passing matter, and must not be dragged out indefinitely. Prisons ought to be places where people are lodged only temporarily, as guests are. They must not become dwelling places.

--I CHING
(Wilhelm/Baynes translation)