Yarrow / Source Notes / 2026-07-17
Yarrow paired source note · 2026-07-17
Compare Hexagram 1 Qian (The Creative) with Hexagram 2 Kun (The Receptive) as a line-by-line opposite pair, without turning contrast into prediction.
The Creative represents Heaven: the origin of all things, possessing sublime success, furthering through harmony, steadfast and upright in character.
The ancients believed that ever since chaos gave way to light, the heavens have shone upon the earth with their brightness and warmth.
The Receiving. Sublime origination, pervading success, furthering through the perseverance of a mare. If the superior man undertakes to act and tries to lead, he goes astray; but if he follows, he finds guidance. It is favorable to find friends in the west and south, and to forego friends in the east and north. Quiet perseverance brings good fortune.
This historical commentary interprets Kun through following and responsiveness rather than taking the lead, using the mare as an image of receptivity.
The local structured corpus records Hexagram 1's opposite as Hexagram 2, and Hexagram 2's opposite as Hexagram 1. Every line changes polarity across this pair. Use that structural fact to compare conditions, not to label one side good and the other bad.
Make two columns headed Qian and Kun. Under each, copy one phrase from its reference translation and one observable condition from the situation you are studying. Circle the condition that would have to change before the other column became more relevant. Choose one reversible step and a review date.
An opposite pair is not a before-and-after promise. Qian does not automatically become Kun, and the pair does not decide which person or outcome is correct. It is a disciplined contrast for closer observation.
The two reference translations and context notes come from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi authority layer. The opposite-pair relation comes from the same local corpus. This comparison is not a fresh cast or a forecast.