A source-first reading note for Hexagram 11, Tai (Peace), with a reference translation, trigram frame, and one reversible observation practice.
Reference translation
Tai signifies peaceful prevailing: the small departs, the great approaches. Good fortune. Success. The Tuan says: "Tai. The small departs, the great approaches. Good fortune. Success." Heaven and earth commune, and the ten thousand things flow freely; above and below commune, and their wills are joined as one. The yang is within, the yin without; strength within, yielding without; the superior man within, the inferior man without. The way of the superior man waxes; the way of the inferior man wanes. The Hsiang says: Heaven and earth commune — this is Tai. Thus the sovereign apportions and completes the course of heaven and earth, assists the right disposition of heaven and earth, and so aids the people.
See the original-text and authority layers in the complete catalog entry.
Context from the authority layer
The Rites of Zhou: Records of Examination of Craftsmen states: "Heaven has its seasons, earth has its vital force." Zhu Xi, in his Original Meaning of the Book of Changes, says: "When heaven and earth interact, the two vital forces communicate, and thus there is Tai (Peace)." Such an interpretation arises from both the hexagram image and the positions within the hexagram. Yin resides on the outside and above, while yang dwells on the inside and below.
Read the structure before the slogan
The lower trigram is 乾 (天), associated in the bundled corpus with 健; the upper trigram is 坤 (地), associated with 顺. Read the lower trigram as the inner or starting field and the upper trigram as the outward field before turning the pattern into advice.
One accountable observation practice
Copy one concrete verb, condition, or image from the reference translation for Hexagram 11. Name one place where it is observable in the situation you are examining. Then choose one small step you can reverse and write the condition that would make you review it.
Common misread to avoid
Do not turn Peace into a personality label, a guaranteed event, or a verdict about another person. The translation and trigram frame are source layers to examine, not an instruction to surrender judgment.
Source boundary
The reference translation and context are drawn from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi authority layer. Yarrow keeps that layer separate from optional modern reflection. This page does not claim that Hexagram 11 was cast for your question.