37 Rigid Structuring (releases tension) In the context of guidance we utilise influence.

Trigrams : guidance (bottom), influence (top) : with/from guidance comes influence. [wind over fire]

The mud from which 37 has emerged is best described by analogy to the under-stated qualities of hexagram 39, obstructing, bypassing.

Commentary :

In hexagram 37 we find that release from tension need not be explicit. For example, here a man returns to his family/clan where there is no tension in that each member of the family speaks the same language and fulfills their role - mother is mother, father is father, first son is first son etc - the social structure is rigid. Beneficially, this creates a tension free environment - no competition - such that when a family member returns from a tension creating situation, the tension is released just by walking in the door. There is an association with 'communicating' in that within the family or clan, we all speak the same language. This is a relaxing influence; when one has traveled in foreign lands it is good to sometimes hear one's own language. The subtle influence here is the concept of everything being in the 'exactly correct' place and thus a degree of tension release. However, this degree of structuring is also inflexible and we find the contextual roots of obstruction and uncompromising states leading into rigidity.

Goal of 37 - hexagram 53 (or 'how do I 53? - 37')

Five-Phase Relationships : The trigram of Fire reflects Distribution. The trigram of Wind reflects Production (through re-production, cultivation). The relationship is expresses as use of rigid structure to enable tension release (a quality context, the home, family, clan, nation is the foundation and acts to release tension).

37 is the goal of 57 (or 'how do I 37? - 57' How do I maintain a rigid structure that acts to reduce tension, that stands up to the mindless flow - IOW have good, strong, foundations? Through cultivation and becoming influential)

The I Ching tells us about hexagram 37:

In the traditional material of the I Ching, hexagram, 37 is associated with a focus family, on clan, and more generically on social order. The EIC analysis of hexagram 37 brings out the generic property of establishing tension release through imposition of rigid structure, as compared to the structural opposite of hexagram 37, hexagram 40, where the focus is on the relaxation of rigid structure, the sudden release of such, where THAT elicits tension release.

In the "I Ching as language" format, XORing any hexagram with hexagram 37 will elicit a hexagram serving as analogy in describing how 37-ness is expressed through that particular hexagram. For example, XORing 37 with 01 gives us hexagram 40, the supposed opposite of 37. However the CONTEXT of hexagram 01 is hear influencing the expression of hexagram 37 such that that expression will appear in the form of hexagram 40; thus the rigid structure of hexagram 37, placed in this ever moving context of yangness, goes through perpetual tension release through immediate relaxation of structure where such reflects an imposition of structure! The dynamics of pure yang cover the perpetual engagement/re-engagement with context and so a focus on high energy mediations. To express the tension release possible by asserting rigid structure means an imposition that lasts for an instance, it cannot be held constant for any period of time unless it is cycled - i.e. perpetually presented/re-presented to last but an instant and appear as the seed for what hexagram 40 represents, the relaxation of structure (as a summer storm breaks a heatwave).

If we change the context to, say, hexagram 07, and XOR it with 37 we have hexagram 10. In this context the focus on rigid structure is a focus on the conduct needed in following a path whilst under close scrutiny. That conduct is an act of imposing rigid order on behaviour and as such serves to relax tension through its formality - formal conduct serves to avoid 'surprises'
and covers the use of ritual in following a path.

The context of 07 already sets a focus on setting-down a sense of social uniformity (expressed in the traditional I Ching interpretation of 07 as "The Army") and the expression of tension RELEASE in such a context, through use of rigid structuring, is manifest in the form of the formality of expression covered in hexagram 10. Below is a table covering the full spectrum of hexagram 37:

Some PAIRINGS of hexagram 37 with other hexagrams:

• In the binary sequence hexagram 37 pairs with hexagram 63.

This pairing reflects an overall focus on completion in the form of 'correct structure'. In hexagram 37 the differentiating bias is to a particular in the form of tension release where "a first daughter is a first daughter" and a "third son is a third son", in other words there is no competition and the context overall acts as a cause of tension release, that context being ANY collective but the metaphor of a family is used to get the point across.. Hexagram 63 focuses on correctness leading to the completion of something, of getting the sequence of events 'right' and so we also see a focus on 'correct structure'.

• In the binary sequence hexagram 37 opposes hexagram 40.

The main theme is tension release with the hexagrams manifesting different approaches, thus 40 focuses on tension release through release of structure, whereas 37 focuses on tension release through an imposition of structure.

At the LOCAL level we are dealing with an octet of hexagrams with FIRE as the base. Here 55 'opposes' 37 where the exaggerated sense of abundance and diversity (and so potential overflow) is reflected in a more balanced format by a focus on rigid structuring (37).

• In the traditional sequence hexagram 37 pairs with hexagram 38.

The overall emphasis here is on rigid structure, in 37 this is in the form of a collective that serves to reduce tension, in 38 the focus is on 'going against the flow', both for benefit but also as a cost.

RIGIDITY:

37 : rigidity - through structure (tension releasing); 37 rigid structure (family) comes from a context described by hexagram 39 - obstacles, bypassing

38 : rigidity - through perspective (tension reducing); 38 mirroring comes from a context described by hexagram 40 - relaxed structuring

• In the traditional sequence hexagram 37 opposes hexagram 28.

In this pairing the rigid structure of 37 is balanced and it serves as tension release, in 28 there is a sense of over-balanced, about to burst and so a presence of tension and exaggeration.

• The generic properties of hexagram 37 reflect the mixing of the generic properties of hexagram 63 with the generic properties of hexagram 39.

A combination of 'correct order', of completion (63) with a sense of going against the flow of things through imposing structure (39) is reflected in the rigid structure that serves as as source of tension release (37).

• In the variations on a theme sequence, hexagram 37 complements hexagram 53.

Copyright © 2003-2009 C. J. Lofting