The Crane Calls in the Shade

How far does a sentence you say casually at home travel?

Original

九二：鳴鶴在陰，其子和之；我有好爵，吾與爾靡之。象曰：其子和之，中心願也。子曰：「君子居其室，出其言善，則千里之外應之，況其邇者乎？……言行，君子之樞機。樞機之發，榮辱之主也。言行，君子之所以動天地也，可不慎乎！」

In plain words

Line 2: a crane calls in the shade, and its young one answers. I have a fine cup of wine; I will share it with you. The Image says: “its young one answers” means it is what the heart truly wants. Confucius said: “When the noble person, sitting at home, says something good, people a thousand miles away respond; how much more those close by? … Words and deeds are the noble person's hinge and trigger. When the hinge turns, honour or disgrace is decided. Words and deeds are how the noble person moves heaven and earth. How can one not take care?”

Key words

孚fúGood faith, trust. Zhongfu: trust at the centre.
和hèTo answer in song; read hè here.
樞機shū jīA door's pivot and a crossbow's trigger: the decisive point.

Reading it step by step

Constancy, on the last page, meant keeping the direction and keeping on walking. What finally holds a lasting relationship together? Trust. The 孚 in Zhongfu (Inner Truth) means good faith. Many readers of the Changes call its second line the most beautiful of all 384.

First: look at the shape. Hollow in the middle, solid on both sides. Zhongfu has Wind above and Lake below: two solid lines at the top, two at the bottom, and two broken lines held between them. Seen whole, the centre is empty. Seen as two trigrams, the central places (lines 2 and 5) are both solid. The Song scholar Cheng Yi put it this way: an empty centre is the root of trust; a solid centre is its substance. Empty inside means no prejudgment, so you can listen. Solid inside means real ability, so you can deliver what you promise. Only empty, and you are a pushover; only solid, and it's “do as I say.” Trust needs both. Say a little less; do a little more.

solid centres

lines 2 and 5 are solid

real ability: you deliver what you promise

empty middle

lines 3 and 4 are broken

no prejudgment: you can listen

Empty middle, the root of trust; solid centre, its substance

Second: the crane calls in the shade, not on a stage. “A crane calls in the shade, and its young one answers.” The parent calls where it can't be seen, and the young bird answers of its own accord. The commentary says: it is what the heart truly wants. No one ordered it. Then the warmest line: “I have a fine cup of wine; I will share it with you.” Trust is not a command but a call; not hoarding but sharing. Between line 2 and line 5 lie only the two broken lines, which block nothing, so the two voices reach each other directly.

Third: words said indoors are answered a thousand miles away. Confucius, reading this line, says: say something good at home and people a thousand miles away respond, let alone those nearby; say something bad, and even those far away turn from you. Words and deeds are the hinge and the trigger: when they move, honour or disgrace is settled. In his day a thousand miles meant letters and books carried slowly.

Now a sentence spoken in the living room can cross the world in minutes. One teacher lectured on Laozi and Zhuangzi in a classroom for years; one day a letter arrived from a scholar in Canada who had heard the lectures online and wanted to invite him. The teacher had given that man nothing. Why did he respond? Only because the words rang true to the human heart.

So care isn't only for “big occasions.” What you say to your child at dinner, the message you forward to a group without thinking, the small favour you promised a colleague: each is a hinge. Set aside what you've said and done badly before. From today, make each word a little more solid, and the people near you will soon notice the change.

Your voice needn't be loud, only true.

One line to carry

Your voice needn't be loud, only true.

Today's question

Of the things you said this week, which would you most like someone a thousand miles away to hear? Which would you most like to take back?

Quick check

On this page's reading, what does Zhongfu's “empty middle, solid centres” say about trust?

Next pageIt Ends with “Not Yet”Page 29

IV · Walking with Others — Modesty, fellowship, response, constancy, trust, and a mind at peace

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