易學

The main theme of hexagram 4 as seen in the line texts is not the ignorant fellow, but the ignorant fellow who wants or needs his ignorance removed. There is a drive for gaining knowledge, and the removal of ignorance and misunderstanding is what should be emphasized – not the fact that there is ignorance.

Line 4

困蒙.吝.

Kun 困: hindered, blocked (阻礙)

吝: difficulties; difficult progress (see hexagram 3, line 3)

Blocked ignorance. Difficulties.

Line 5

童蒙.吉.

About tong meng 童蒙: see Judgment

Repeated ignorance. Auspicious.

Line 6

擊蒙.不利為寇.利禦寇.

Ji 擊: attack. The Shanghai Museum MS has 墼 = 毄, ‘attack’.

Kou 寇: invaders, enemies.

兵作於內為亂, 於外為寇.
Hostilities within the State produce rebellion, while hostilities from without are from enemies.
(Zuo Zhuan, tr. James Legge)

Attack ignorance.
Not advantageous for invaders,
Advantageous for guarding against invaders.

勿用取女.見金夫不有躬.無攸利.

Qu nü 取女 = 娶:

Qu 取 normally means ‘to take by force’, but the phrase qu nü 取女 is most probably equal to the character qu 娶, which has the same pronunciation and components, and means ‘to marry’ (漢語大字典, p. 1056.1). That 取 can have the meaning of 娶 is apparent in the Shijing, where it is used in the meaning ‘to marry’ (see odes M101, M138, M158 and M261). In the Mengzi 孟子 ode M101 is quoted, “取妻如之何、必告父母”, but 取 is replaced with 娶 (Legge, The Works of Mencius, p. 345), which shows that in this case 取 and 娶 were considered as exchangeable. And 女 might be a short form for 妻.
(from A Mulan in the Yijing article)

Jin fu 金夫: A wealthy man.

Gong 躬: loan character for qiong 窮, ‘poor, poverty-stricken’. The Mawangdui text has qiong 竆, a variant of 窮. The Shanghai Museum MS has gong 躳, which is a component in the MWD character.

You gong 有躬 =  you qiong 有窮, ‘suffer from poverty’ (遭受困窮):

在陳絕糧，從者病，莫能興。子路慍見曰：「君子亦有窮乎？」子曰：「君子固窮，小人窮斯濫矣。」
When [Confucius] was in Chen, their provisions were exhausted, and his followers became so ill that they were unable to rise. Zi Lu, with evident dissatisfaction, said, “Has the superior man likewise to endure in this way?” The Master said, “The superior man may indeed have to endure want, but the mean man, when he is in want, gives way to unbridled license.”
(Lun Yu 論語, tr. James Legge)

Bu you gong 不有躬: without poverty.

Do not marry the woman.
(You will) meet a wealthy man without poverty.
Not going far is advantageous.

包蒙吉.納婦吉.子克家.

Bao meng 包蒙: Several old books, like Lu Deming’s 陸德明 Jingdian Shiwen 經典釋文,  claim that  older texts used biao 彪 instead of bao.

唐石經作”苞”. 京房、鄭玄、陸績、一行作”彪”.
The Tang Stone Classics use bao 苞. Jing Fang, Zheng Xuan and Lu Ji all use 彪.
(Deng Qiubai 邓球柏, “帛书周易校释”, p. 136)

Karlgren says in his Loan Characters in Pre-Han Texts:

Loan Characters: 苞 ‘reed mat; bushy, dense” voor 彪 defined as = 文 ‘motley; to make beautiful, to refine’ says Cheng Huan (following the tradition of the Jing Fang school) on Yi: Gua 4 苞蒙 (in later editions changed to 包蒙) – Possible. Whether 包蒙, as mostly stated, means: “(to embrace:) have patience with the ignorant”; or 彪蒙 means: “(to make fine:) to educate the ignorant”; or the both mean something entirely different cannot be determined, since the Yi text, as often, is quite obscure.
(entry 1160)

Biao originally refers to the stripes on a tiger’s body, but later it also referred to outstanding literary talent, beautiful written essays, literature etc. In the Cai Zhong Lang Ji 蔡中郎集 by Cai Yong (132–192) we read:

童蒙来求, 彪之用文…
When the young ignorant comes to ask, biao him by using literature…

From the context we can deduce that biao might refer to education, teaching or training. The later used bao 包 is often read as ‘include, tolerate, pardon’ (包容；包含), meanings that the variant character bao 苞 also has.

Na 納:  ‘to take’, ‘to marry’ (娶)

Fu 婦: daughter-in-law (兒媳)

Zi 子: a son, but it can also refer to the heir of a monarch (國君的繼承人，嗣君)

Ke 克: can, be able, be capable of (能夠)

Jia 家: get married (結婚成家)

Educating ignorance; auspicious.
To take a daughter-in-law is auspicious,
(So that) the heir can marry.

發蒙.利用刑人.用說桎梏.以往吝.

Fa meng 發蒙 = fa meng 發矇: make a blind person recover lost eye sight. Analogy for enlightening the stupid, open one’s eyes to new point of views (使盲人眼睛復明. 喻啟發矇昧; 開拓眼界):

將方舟而下流兮，冀幸君之發矇。
I shall take a barge and go sailing down the river,
Lest by some good chance my lord should yet come to his sense.
(The Songs of the South, tr. D. Hawkes, p. 249)

三子者，既得聞此言也於夫子，昭然若發矇矣。
When the three students heard these words from the Master, it was obvious they felt their ignorance exposed.
(Liji 禮記)

Xingren 刑人: Punished criminals doing physical labour (受刑之人. 古代多以刑人充服勞役的奴隸).

Tuo 說 = tuo 脫: ‘take off, to free, relieve’.

Yi 以: cause, reason (緣故; 原因; 道理).

Exposed ignorance.
Favourable to use prisoners (as slaves).
Remove hand- and foot shackles
As these hinder going.