Hexagram of the Day Wednesday, December 16, 2026: #4 Youthful Folly (蒙)

Gao is pronounced gu, san xi zhan fan. Du is pronounced du. Gen is also the name of a three-line Gua; one yang rests atop two yin lines, hence its virtue is stopping and its image is the mountain.

Meng means unenlightened and obscure; at the beginning of things' generation, they are obscure, naive, and not yet clear. The Gua is formed by Kan meeting Gen; under the mountain there is danger, which is the ground of Youthful Folly.

Internal danger and external stopping express the meaning of Youthful Folly. Hence its name is Meng (Youthful Folly). 'Success' and what follows are divinatory statements.

Nine in the Second Place is the master of the inner Gua; occupying the center with firmness, it is able to enlighten people's ignorance and properly responds to Six in the Fifth Place in yin-yang resonance. Therefore, whoever encounters this Gua has the path of success.

'I' refers to the second line. 'The youthful fool,' naive, tender, and ignorant, refers to the fifth line. If the diviner is enlightened, others should seek me, and success lies with them; if the diviner is unenlightened, I should seek others, and success lies with me.

When others seek me, I should observe whether it is appropriate and respond accordingly; when I seek others, I must exert utmost sincerity and devotion in inquiring.

Moreover, whether the enlightened cultivates the ignorant or the ignorant cultivates himself, both find it advantageous to be correct.

Explaining the name of the Gua through its images and virtues yields two meanings.

Explaining the judgment through the Gua structure: Nine in the Second Place uses the path of success to enlighten people's folly, while also attaining the balance of the time; this refers to the matters described below, all proceeding through success and hitting the mark of appropriateness.

'Their wills respond' means the second is firm and bright while the fifth is yielding and dim; thus the second does not seek the fifth, but the fifth seeks the second, their wills responding naturally to each other.

'Through firmness and the center': because it is firm and centered, it can instruct with proper moderation. If one consults the oracle two or three times, it is an importunity; the inquirer is certainly importunate, and the instructor who responds also becomes importunate.

'Cultivating correctness in the ignorant is the work of creating sagehood' explains the meaning of 'it is advantageous to be steadfast.'

Xing is pronounced xia meng fan; the image of Six in the Third Place is the same. When spring water first emerges, it must flow gradually.

Youthful Folly in the Order of the Hexagrams: Difficulty at the Beginning implies fullness; Difficulty at the Beginning represents the initial birth of things. When things are first born, they are inevitably unenlightened, so it is followed by Youthful Folly.

Meng means covered or foolish; it represents the infancy of things. Difficulty at the Beginning is the initial birth of things; when things are first born, they are tender, small, dim, and undeveloped, which is why Youthful Folly follows Difficulty at the Beginning.

As a Gua, Gen is above and Kan is below; Gen is mountain and stopping, Kan is water and danger. Under the mountain there is danger; meeting danger and stopping, not knowing where to go, is the image of Youthful Folly.

Water is something that must move; when it first springs forth, it has nowhere to go yet, hence Youthful Folly; when it advances, it finds the meaning of success. Youthful Folly contains the principle of enlightenment, which is the meaning of success.

The talent of the Gua and the balance of the time constitute the way to achieve success. Six in the Fifth Place is the master of folly, while Nine in the Second Place is the one who enlightens folly. 'I' refers to the second line.

The second is not the master of folly; since the fifth yields submissively to the second, the second acts as the enlightener. Thus the text speaks primarily from the perspective of the second: 'It is not I who seek the youthful fool; the youthful fool seeks me.'

The fifth occupies the exalted throne, possessing the virtue of yielding compliance while currently in a state of youthful folly; it forms a proper correlate with the second and shares the same virtue of the mean, enabling it to utilize the second's Dao to dispel its ignorance.

The second, possessing the virtue of firm balance below, is trusted and looked up to by the ruler; it should preserve itself through the Dao, waiting for the ruler to seek it with utmost sincerity before responding, whereby its Dao can be employed.

It is not I who seek the youthful fool; rather, the youthful fool comes to seek me. Divining resolves doubts. 'The first divination informs': if one seeks me with single-minded sincerity, I inform them.

Consulting a second and third time constitutes importunity and disrespect, hence I do not inform.

The Dao of enlightening folly finds it advantageous to be steadfast and correct; furthermore, though the second is firm and centered, it resides in a yin position, hence a warning is fitting.

Under the mountain there is danger: inside is danger that cannot be inhabited, outside is stopping where one cannot advance; not knowing what to do, this conveys the meaning of dim folly. 'Youthful Folly has success; with success it proceeds at the proper and central time.'

That Youthful Folly can achieve success is because it proceeds according to the path of success. The so-called path of success is the balance of the time.

The time means obtaining the ruler's response; the center means occupying the middle appropriately; obtaining the center accords with the time. 'It is not I who seek the youthful fool; the youthful fool seeks me: their wills respond.'

The second, with firm and enlightened worthiness, resides below; the fifth, with youthful folly, dwells above. It is not that the second seeks the fifth, but that the fifth's will responds to the second. How could a worthy person below advance on his own to seek the ruler?

If he seeks on his own, there is certainly no principle by which he will be trusted and employed.

The reason the ancients insisted that a ruler extend utmost respect and complete ritual before they would go was not to aggrandize themselves, but because unless virtue is honored and the Dao delighted in, nothing great can be accomplished together.

'The first divination' means coming with single-minded sincerity to resolve folly; one should then instruct and enlighten them through the Dao of firm balance. 'Two or three times' means vexatious repetition.

If the intent of coming to divine is repetitious and unable to maintain single-minded sincerity, it is disrespectful and insolent; one should not inform them.

Informing them will certainly not lead to faithful reception, merely resulting in vexatious disrespect; hence it is said to importune folly. Both the inquirer and the respondent become vexatious and importunate.

The judgment says 'it is advantageous to be steadfast,' and the Commentary on the Judgment expands upon its meaning to clarify that this is not merely a caution to the second, but truly the way to cultivate the ignorant.

Folly refers to the unexpressed state; using pure, unified, unexpressed folly to cultivate its correctness is the work of creating sagehood.

If one only restrains after desires have arisen, there will be friction and resistance that are difficult to overcome; cultivating correctness from the start is the highest excellence of learning.

Among the six lines of Youthful Folly, the two yang lines govern folly, while the four yin lines are those who dwell in folly.

A spring emerges under the mountain; flowing out, it encounters danger and has nowhere to go, which is the image of Youthful Folly. It is like an ignorant child who does not know where to go.

The noble person observes the image of Youthful Folly to make his conduct resolute and nurture his virtue.

Observing that it has emerged but cannot yet flow freely, he acts with resolution in what he carries out; observing that it has just sprung forth without a direction, he nurtures his luminous virtue.

'Divination': divination is an instrument for resolving doubts. When the youthful fool comes to seek me, he wishes to resolve what confuses him. If the resolution is not consistent and he knows not what to follow, he will become confused again.

Therefore, the first divination informs; two or three times is importunity. Importunity confuses. Who but the second line is capable of answering the first divination? Dwelling in the center with firmness, he is able to sever doubts.

That which 'Youthful Folly' finds advantageous is indeed the advantage of correctness. For nothing is brighter than a sage, and nothing is dimmer than folly. Cultivating correctness through folly is indeed the work of a sage.

Yet if one attempts to cultivate correctness through overt cleverness, the true Dao is lost.

Retreating brings distress in danger, while advancing is blocked by the mountain; not knowing where to turn is the meaning of Youthful Folly. What the time desires is solely 'success.' Proceeding with success attains 'the balance of the time.'

'I' refers to one who is not a 'youthful fool.' One who is not a youthful fool is yang. In all cases, the ignorant seek out the knowledgeable, while the knowledgeable do not seek whom to inform; the dim seek the enlightened, while the enlightened do not consult the dim.

Hence the meaning of Youthful Folly is: 'It is not I who seek the youthful fool; the youthful fool seeks me.' That the youthful fool comes to seek me is because their wills respond. This refers to the second line.

The second is the master of all the yin lines; if it lacked firmness and lost the center, how could it obtain the authority to inform at the first divination?

A spring emerging beneath the mountain, not yet knowing where to flow, is the image of Youthful Folly. 'Making conduct resolute' carries the meaning of the first divination. 'Nurturing virtue' is the work of cultivating correctness.

'Youthful Folly has success' down to 'importunity brings no information.' Sub-commentary: Meng is the name for being obscure, dim, and weak. When all things are naive and dim, their only wish is to achieve smooth success, hence 'Youthful Folly has success.'

'It is not I who seek the youthful fool; the youthful fool seeks me': since things are dim and weak while wishing to achieve success, the enlightened do not seek out the dim.

That is, it is not I, with lofty and bright teacherly virtue, who go to seek the darkness of the youthful fool; rather, the dim seek the enlightened, and the enlightened do not consult the dim, hence 'the youthful fool seeks me.'

'The first divination informs': 'first' is the word for the very beginning; 'divination' is the means to resolve doubt. When the youthful fool comes to seek me, I should resolve and inform him with the single principle of his initial inquiry.

'Two or three times is importunity; importunity brings no information': if the master hesitates and is undecided, offering a second or third explanation, it becomes disrespectful importunity; if importunate, he does not inform.

The youthful fool comes to ask fundamentally to resolve doubt; if the teacher answers with broad, conflicting, or repetitious explanations, the youthful fool hearing them will become even more confused and disordered, so it is better not to inform.

Everything above explains the meaning of 'Youthful Folly has success.' Only by according with the matters above can 'success' be attained; hence the word 'success' appears above these matters.

It does not mention 'primal' (yuan) because in a time of naive weakness, primal greatness has not yet emerged.

Commentary on 'the first divination informs': Sub-commentary: 'The first divination informs' means that when the youthful fool comes to seek me, I should dissect and explain it with a single principle based on the intent of his initial divination.

'Two or three times is importunity; importunity confuses' means that if one discards this initial intent, wavers in hesitation, and offers divergent interpretations, the youthful fool hearing it will find it insolent and chaotic.

Hence 'two or three times is importunity; importunity confuses.' 'Who but the second line is capable of answering the first divination?'

derives from the Commentary on the Judgment: 'The first divination informs, through firmness and the center'; because the second is firm and central, we know it refers to the second. 'It is advantageous to be steadfast.' Sub-commentary: Zhen means correctness.

This expresses that the significance of Youthful Folly lies in the advantage of cultivating correctness; hence the Commentary on the Judgment says, 'Cultivating correctness in the ignorant is the work of creating sagehood.'

If one attempts to cultivate correctness through overt brilliance, the true path is lost.

Commentary on 'Yet if one attempts to cultivate correctness through overt cleverness, the true Dao is lost': Sub-commentary: This means that although a person harbors sage virtue, if he keeps silent and concealed, others cannot fathom his depth nor gauge his magnitude; thus sage virtue remains profound and unfathomable.

If he flaunts his virtue and exposes his own brilliance, others will know what he does and discern his depth.

Hence the commentary on Darkening of the Light says: 'Approaching the multitudes with darkening of the light; if one's brilliance is displayed externally, cunning people will find ways to evade it.' This Gua and the Great Treatise both elucidate this through human affairs.

Sub-commentary: 'Under the mountain there is danger': Kan is beneath Gen, which is danger beneath the mountain. Gen means stopping; Kan meeting stopping above means danger and stopping. Fearing that advancing or retreating is impossible, it is dim and foolish.

This explains the name of the hexagram Youthful Folly. Sub-commentary: Reiterating the meaning of 'Youthful Folly has success,' it states that in a time of Youthful Folly, everyone desires success.

If one proceeds through the path of success in accordance with the time, one attains the center; hence it says 'the balance of the time.'

Sub-commentary: When the ignorant will of the youthful fool seeks to meet and correspond with the enlightened, it is called 'their wills respond.' Sub-commentary: 'Two or three times is importunity; importunity brings no information.

Importunity confuses': the reason for not informing upon two or three inquiries is the fear of confusing the ignorant. All of the above from the Commentary on the Judgment summarizes the meaning of 'Youthful Folly has success.'

'Cultivating correctness in the ignorant is the work of creating sagehood' means that being able to cultivate the correct Dao through naive obscurity and quiet concealment achieves the work of the ultimate sage.

This single sentence explains the canon's 'it is advantageous to be steadfast.'

Sub-commentary: A spring emerges beneath the mountain, having nowhere yet to go; this represents danger and stopping, hence the image of dim folly.

Sub-commentary: The noble person should develop this Dao of enlightening folly to make his actions resolute and instruct the ignorant, which is 'the meaning of the first divination.'

'Nurturing virtue' means keeping silent and concealed without self-display, so as to nurture his virtue.

'Making conduct resolute' and 'nurturing virtue' alternate with each other: when a youthful fool comes to ask, one acts with resolution; when normally dwelling among the multitude, one nurtures virtue. They do not conflict, but serve different occasions.