The Cauldron
The Sacrificial Vessel
Raw material made fit to be offered: worth given its place, and spilled by hands unfit to lift it.
Xun, the Gentle, Wind, stands below Li, the Clinging, Fire, and because Xun carries wood as well as wind the Image is read as fire over wood, the fuel burning beneath the vessel. The six lines are taken as a picture of the ting itself: the yielding line at the base its legs, the firm lines above its belly, the yielding fifth line its ears and the firm top line the carrying ring. The ting cooked offerings for the supreme deity and fed worthy men, so the nourishment meant here is cultural rather than bodily, and the Judgement is among the most favourable in the book: supreme good fortune, success.
Light
Refinement and nourishment: raw material made fit to be offered, worth given a place, and offices correctly held by those with the capacity to fill them.
Shadow
The fourth line breaks the legs of the ting and spills the prince's meal, and the third has the ears altered so that the vessel cannot be lifted: too great a load in unfit hands. The overturned legs of the first line are not a warning — the text there furthers the removal of stagnating stuff.
