Ming Yi to Bi (Grace): reading the making of cement in a line

Spring 1890 (Meiji 23) · Takashima himself, asking about the cement company he co-founded · 中文版

The cast

Hexagram 36 Míng Yí (Darkening of the Light), line 6 (top) moving, changing to Hexagram 22 Bì (Grace).

Original text

明治二十一年。六月。余與坂田服部兩氏。合謀製造攝緜土所於尾州熱田。推坂田氏爲社長。攝緜土製法。密合石灰與粘土。燒造而成。向來我國所用。皆仰外國輸入。毎年約費數十萬圓。設立製局。毎年可減却十萬圓。且熱田所製之品。優于外國。大得聲價。二十三年春。占該社之景况。得明夷之賁。爻辭曰。上六不明晦。初登于天。後入于地。斷曰。攝緜土製法。本係粘土石灰兩物。合製而成。粘土取之汙濕地中。所謂入地者是也。不取其潔白。而取其黑澤。所謂不明晦者是也。此土出地。歷經工匠。融化鍛鍊。猶如登天也。鍊成後。用以糞墻築地。儼然後入于地也。該社製出之品。工精物美。可得遠售外國。即象傳所謂照四國也。玩爻辭之意。合之攝緜土之製造販行。歷歷相符。該社之盛行可必也。閱數月。復占一卦。仍得前爻。益知神之所示。無有異辭。靈妙誠堪畏服。

In plain words

In June 1888 Takashima joined with Sakata and Hattori to set up a cement works at Atsuta in Owari, with Sakata as president. Cement is made by mixing lime and clay and firing them. Until then Japan had imported all its cement, at a cost of several hundred thousand yen a year; a domestic works could save a hundred thousand yen a year. And the cement made at Atsuta was better than the foreign product and won a fine reputation.

In the spring of 1890 Takashima cast on the company's prospects and got Ming Yi with its top line moving, changing into Bi (Grace). The line reads: "Six at the top: not bright but dark. First it rose up to heaven; then it went down into the earth."

Takashima's judgment: cement is made from two things, clay and lime. The clay is dug from wet ground below, which is "into the earth"; not the clean white clay but the dark, moist kind, which is "not bright but dark". Once out of the ground, it passes through the workmen's hands and is melted and fired, as if rising to heaven; once made, it is used to render walls and lay floors, and so, sure enough, "then it went down into the earth".

The company's product is well made and of high quality, and can be sold far abroad, which is the commentary's "shining on the four quarters". Pondering the line, it matches the making and selling of cement point by point, so the company is sure to thrive. A few months later he cast again and got the same line, which convinced him that the spirits had nothing different to say; he found it awe-inspiring.

How Takashima read it

Only one line text is read: with one moving line, the top line of Ming Yi is read.
Word-by-word matching: "not bright but dark" is the dark clay; "first rose to heaven" is firing in the kiln; "then went into the earth" is laying it into walls and floors. The line is read as a picture of a manufacturing process, not as a statement of good or bad fortune.
The commentary is cited: Takashima quotes "shining on the four quarters" to mean exports.
Worth noticing: in the usual reading this top line is an unlucky one, a benighted ruler falling from on high; Takashima reads it purely as a literal process and comes out with a favourable verdict.

About the outcome

This case records nothing of how the company actually did, only Takashima's delight at the point-by-point match and his awe at drawing the same line twice. It was a reading about his own venture, and a reader may notice that his interpretation happens to agree with his hope that the company would thrive. This site does not treat it as evidence.

Applying it to your situation

The usual reading of this line is unlucky; Takashima read it as lucky. It is a reminder that when the question touches our own interests, interpretation drifts toward what we hope. When you read the "signs" in a situation, might you be looking for the answer you want?

Original: Takashima Kaemon, Takashima Ekidan (expanded edition), recorded by Yanagida Ikusaku, Chinese text by Wang Zhiben, 1901. Translation, notes and reflection by this site.

These are historical records kept by the diviner himself. The outcomes are his own account; this site uses them to study how the lines were read, not as evidence that divination predicts events.

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