Limitation

Water above

Lake below

Translated from Richard Wilhelm's German (1924)

Introduction

The lake has limited room. If more water flows into it, it spills over. That is why one must set limits for it. In the image there are the waters below and the waters above, and between them, as a limit, is the firmament of heaven.

In Chinese, the word for limitation properly means the firm joints that divide bamboo stalks into sections. In ordinary life it refers to thrift, which keeps fixed limits on its spending. In moral life it is the firm limits that the noble one sets for their own actions, the limits of faithfulness and selflessness.

The Judgment

Limitation. Success. One must not persist in practicing bitter limitation.

Limits are irksome. But they accomplish something. Through thrift in ordinary life one is prepared for times of need. Through restraint one spares oneself shame. But limits are just as indispensable in the order of the world's affairs. Nature sets firm limits to summer and winter, to day and night, and through these limits the year gains its significance. In this way thrift serves to ensure that, through fixed limits on spending, goods are preserved and people are not harmed.

Yet moderation is needed in limitation too. If one were to impose all too bitter limits on one's own nature, it would suffer under them. If one were to carry the limitation of others too far, they would rebel. Therefore limits are needed even in limitation.

The Image

Above the lake there is water: the image of limitation. So the noble one establishes number and measure and examines what virtue and right conduct are.

The lake is something finite; water is inexhaustible. The lake can hold only a certain measure of the infinite water. In this lies its particular character. In life, too, the individual gains significance through distinctions and the setting up of limits. What matters here is to lay down with complete clarity these distinctions, which are, as it were, the backbone of morality. Limitless possibilities are nothing that suits human beings. Through them, their lives would only flow away into the boundless. To become strong, one needs the limits of duty, freely set. Only by surrounding themselves with these limits and freely laying down the command of duty for themselves does the individual gain significance as a free guest.

The Lines

First line, nine

Not going out beyond door and courtyard is no fault.

Often one would like to undertake something but finds oneself facing insurmountable limits. Then one needs the insight to see where to stop. If one understands this rightly and does not go out beyond the limits that are set for one, one gathers such strength that one is able to act with energy when the time for it has come. In the preparation of important matters, discretion is of fundamental importance.

Confucius says of this: "Where disorder arises, words are the step that leads to it. A prince who is not discreet loses the servant. A servant who is not discreet loses their life. If matters still in the bud are not handled discreetly, this harms their completion. Therefore the noble one is careful to keep silent and does not go out."

Second line, nine

Not going out beyond gate and courtyard brings misfortune.

When the time for action has come, one must take hold quickly. Just as water at first gathers in a lake and does not flow out, but surely opens a way for itself once the lake fills up, so it is also in human life. It is quite right to hesitate as long as the time has not yet come, but no longer. When the obstacles have been removed so that one can act, anxious hesitation is a mistake that is sure to bring misfortune, because one has missed the opportunity.

Third line, six

Those who know no limitation will have reason to lament. No fault.

When one thinks only of joys and pleasures, one easily loses the sense of the necessary limits. But if one gives oneself up to extravagance, one will have to suffer the consequences with regret. One must not try to find the mistakes in others. Only when one recognizes one's own mistake will such unpleasant experiences make one free of mistakes.

Fourth line, six

Contented limitation. Success.

Every limitation has its value. But if this limitation still demands constant effort, it costs too much strength. Where the limitation is something natural, however, as it is, for example, in the nature of water to flow downward, it necessarily leads to success, because in this case it means a saving of strength. The energy that would otherwise be used up in a futile struggle with the object goes entirely to the matter at hand, and success cannot fail to come.

Fifth line, nine

Sweet limitation brings good fortune. Going earns esteem.

To be effective, limitation has to be put into practice in the proper way. If one wants only to impose limits on others while evading them oneself, these limits will always be felt as bitter and will provoke resistance. If, on the other hand, someone in a position of leadership begins by limiting themselves, demands little of their people and accomplishes something with modest means, good fortune comes of it. Where such an example is at work, it finds followers, so that whatever one undertakes must succeed.

Top line, six

Bitter limitation: persistence brings misfortune. Regret vanishes.

If one is too strict in limitation, people cannot bear it. The more consistently one keeps to such strictness, the more harmful it is, since a backlash cannot be avoided for long. In the same way the tormented body takes its revenge when one tries to practice too strict an asceticism. But even if this ruthless strictness is not something that could be applied constantly and regularly, at certain times it can still be the only means of guarding oneself against guilt and regret. These are the situations in which ruthlessness toward one's own person is the only means of saving the soul, which would otherwise be lost in half-heartedness and temptation.

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