Commentary on the tenth prophecy of the Ma Qian Ke

[No. 10: Republican Period, 1911-1949]

Prediction No. 10----------------010100----------------middle lower
The assessment is ‘moderately bad’.

Shi hou niu qian----------------A pig behind, a cow in front

Qian ren yi ge-------------------A thousand men with one voice

Wu er dao zhi-------------------Five two reversed

Peng lai wu jiu------------------Friends come without blame

The tenth prophecy of the Ma Qian Ke preliminary translated by Steve Moore is accompanied by Hexagram 39 Jian / Obstruction.


Commentary:

As promised in my critical review of the commentaries on this tenth prophecy on July 25th, I present my commentary in this follow-up article to enable readers to obtain both a clearer picture and a distinct view of ancient Yijing practice in the interpretation of prophecies and/or omens. Just like in the learning of Tao, the Yijing is not difficult to understand and to practise, yet many prefer bypaths thus missing the woods for the trees.

The detractors who used bypaths tend to mislead students. Therefore, with my critical review of their published commentaries on this prophecy, and following the ancient practice of the Shi (priests) and the Wu (magicians), I bring to light their several misleading statements to brand and shame these detractors in public.

The first cryptic message says: ‘A pig behind, an ox in front’ what does it signify?

Those versed with the interpretation of Yijing omens - an ancient Yijing practice - can perceive from this received Hexagram 39 Jian / Obstruction that the pig is clearly behind while the ox is obviously in front.

As mentioned in the critical review, these two animals infer to people and not to specific dates, and in this commentary, I would elaborate further.

Down the ages, the pig is known for its laziness and greed while the ox works hard and a proven reliable friend to farmers. Therefore the verse infers to people who were the then Nationalists (the officers, the well educated and the rich) and the then Communists (the peasants and farmers); and an anomaly of the times. The verse could infer to rulers and the ruled – the emperor, and later the President, and the multitude, but read my comments on the third verse for a fuller explanation.

Why is the pig behind and the ox in front?

The peasants and farmers (the Ox) were recruited, at times forcefully, to be sent to the frontlines, while the corrupt officials and officers, the rich and their kin (the Pig) remained behind to ‘guard’ the cities during the Republic era; an anomaly of the times. Army officers were supposed to lead their soldiers (in this instance, many of them were raw recruits) to the frontlines in ancient or modern warfare, rather than remaining behind to ‘guard’ cities and the rich. The rich were allowed to pay ransoms by corrupt officials to redeem their sons and relatives from such military service with the excuse to remain behind to ‘guard’ the cities.

But how would I know?

The second cryptic message says: ‘A thousand men with one voice’

The metaphoric ‘thousand men with one voice’ can be seen as well which makes it simple to interpret.

The verse means: Independence and democracy, and taken together they signify a Republic (instead of a dynasty).

The third cryptic message says: ‘Five two reversed’

‘Five two reversed’ literally means that the ruler - the nine in the 5th place - reverses his position with that of his servant - the six in the 2nd place of Hexagram 39 Jian / Obstruction.

Therefore, ‘Five two reversed’ metaphorically inferred to the events that took place in China where the rulers became the ruled and vice versa. That is the last Qing Emperor was replaced by a commoner, Sun Yat-Sen who in 1911 became the provisional President of China and a few months later, the emperor had abdicated to become a servant - not a common practice during olden times. The Chinese Presidency was abolished by yet another commoner, Mao ZeDong in 1949 who went on to become the Chairman of China. That signified the end of the Republic era in China.

The fourth and final cryptic message says: ‘Friends come without blame’

The friends referred to were the Americans, the British, the Russians, and other foreigners who came to the aid of China during the uprising against the Manchu; during the Second World War against the Japanese; and during the civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists.

Each time the friends had come in the midst of Obstructions! Therefore, no blame can be accorded to these friends, and to the Chinese.


Cheerio!