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lowest line as still lying in the depth of the waters. In this 

 condition the heavenly giver of fertilizing rains is still useless 

 to mankind. This must be the original meaning of these words, 

 but the diviners concluded from this useflessness of the hidden 

 dragon that one had to abstain from active doing. 



The second line of the same diagram' is explained by the Yih 

 king as follows: ^'■Nine, second; a dragon is seen in the rice fields ; 

 advantage; a great man will be seen''' '. Legge translates: "It will 

 be advantageous to meet with the great man". Although this 

 translation follows the commentators, the meaning is clearer if 

 we divide the sentence as we have done above. The appearance 

 of a dragon in the rice fields gives advantage, i. e. the fertilizing 

 rain gives good crops. The original meaning of the character ^|J , 

 which consists of rice and a knife, is apparently harvest, which 

 was, of course, identical to advantage. Further, "a great man 

 will be seen". Here we see the dragon representing great (espe- 

 cially holy) men, who are as full of Yang as the dragon himself. 

 Even in those olden times his appearance apparently was con- 

 sidered to be an omen of the birth of great and holy men, 

 especially of Emperors, the holiest men on earth. 



In the third line the dragon is not mentioned, but in the 

 fourth we read that he is ^'■perhaps leaping in the pool" (but not 

 yet rising above the surface). '"There will be no evil (^)"^. The 

 word evil seems to be more logical in a divinatory sentence 

 than "mistake". 



The fifth line is described as "A flying dragon in the sky; 

 advantage ; a great man will be seen" '. It is, of course, of the 

 utmost benefit "to mankind, if the rain-bringing dragon is soaring 

 in the sky. At the same time it is an omen of the appearance 

 of a great man. 



Finally, the topmost line is explaineU as "The dragon exceeding 

 the proper limits (i. e. flying too high). There will be regret" *. 

 The simplest explanation of these words is that, if a dragon flies 

 too high, he is too far from the earth to return and the rain 

 does not reach it, a reason of regret to himself and to mankind. 

 At the same time the great man, symbolized by the dragon, 

 repents all exaggeration on his part. 



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