Yarrow paired source note · 2026-07-17

Xian and Sun: Read an Opposite Pair Without Ranking It

Compare Hexagram 31 Xian (Influence) with Hexagram 41 Sun (Decrease) as a line-by-line opposite pair, without turning contrast into prediction.

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31 · Xian · Influence

Xian. Influence. Success. Furtherance through perseverance. To take a maiden to wife brings good fortune. The Commentary on the Decision says: Xian means influence. The yielding is above, the firm below; the two forces influence and respond to one another, drawing near in union. Stillness within, joy without; the man places himself beneath the woman. Therefore: "Success. Furtherance through perseverance. To take a maiden to wife brings good fortune.

This historical commentary reads the trigrams and line correspondences through a courtship and marriage image, emphasizing the lower position as humility.

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41 · Sun · Decrease

Decrease: with sincerity, supreme good fortune. No blame. One may be persevering. It is favorable to undertake something. How is this to be carried out? Two small bowls may be used for the sacrifice. The Image says: Decrease means diminishing below and augmenting above; its way moves upward. When decrease is joined with sincerity, there is supreme good fortune, no blame, one may persevere, and it is favorable to go forth. Wherein lies its use? Two simple bowls suffice for the offering.

The hexagram image of "a lake beneath the mountain" symbolizes the meaning of "diminishing what is below to benefit what is above.

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What the structural contrast actually says

The local structured corpus records Hexagram 31's opposite as Hexagram 41, and Hexagram 41's opposite as Hexagram 31. Every line changes polarity across this pair. Use that structural fact to compare conditions, not to label one side good and the other bad.

Two-column comparison practice

Make two columns headed Xian and Sun. 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.

Common misread to avoid

An opposite pair is not a before-and-after promise. Xian does not automatically become Sun, and the pair does not decide which person or outcome is correct. It is a disciplined contrast for closer observation.

Source boundary

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.