第50卦
鼎
Dǐng
The Cauldron
上卦
離 Lí
Fire — Clinging
下卦
巽 Xùn
Wind — Gentle
经典文本
彖辞
元吉。亨。
象辞
木上有火，鼎。君子以正位凝命。
爻辞
第初爻
初六 鼎顛趾。利出否。得妾以其子。无咎。
第二爻
九二 鼎有實。我仇有疾。不我能即。吉。
第三爻
九三 鼎耳革。其行塞。雉膏不食。方雨虧悔。終吉。
第四爻
九四 鼎折足。覆公餗。其形渥。凶。
第五爻
六五 鼎黃耳金鉉。利貞。
第上爻
上九 鼎玉鉉。大吉。无不利。
Soap Bubbles
Chardin, Unknown
The Cauldron
A boy leans from a casement, breath suspended, watching the fragile sphere he's blown expand against the air. Chardin painted this genre scene in eighteenth-century Paris, capturing the moment before the bubble bursts. The soap film catches light, a temporary vessel holding air in trembling equilibrium. Behind him, a younger child watches the demonstration with fixed attention. The bubble will pop—this is certain—but for now it contains emptiness perfectly, a membrane between inside and outside.
阅读完整论述 ↓
This is Ding (鼎), the Chinese hexagram of The Cauldron. The character depicts the three-legged bronze ritual vessels that held Zhou Dynasty offerings to ancestors and heaven. Ancient diviners saw this configuration when Fire (Li) sits above Wind (Sun): wood feeds flame beneath the vessel, transforming raw ingredients into nourishment. Chardin's bubble operates similarly—breath (wind) creates the sphere, light (fire) reveals it, but the soap film itself (the vessel) determines what can be held and for how long. Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin's genre painting shows a young boy blowing soap bubbles, a traditional vanitas motif in Dutch and French art. The fragile, temporary bubble serves as a vessel or container that holds air momentarily before bursting, relating to The Caldron's function as a ritual vessel that transforms and nourishes through careful tending and proper form. The Judgment declares: "The Cauldron. Supreme good fortune. Success." Yet success here depends on the vessel's integrity. A cauldron with cracked legs spills its contents; a bubble with weak surface tension collapses before growing large. Song Dynasty commentaries emphasized that Ding represents cultural transmission—the vessel that carries refined wisdom across generations. Chardin shows this teaching moment: the older boy demonstrates principles of surface tension to his companion, passing knowledge through careful attention to fragile forms. The painting itself becomes a vessel, holding this instant of instruction across centuries. The Image Text offers counsel: "Fire over wood: the image of The Cauldron. Thus the superior man consolidates his fate by making his position correct." The boy must blow steadily—too hard ruptures the film, too soft prevents formation. In Zhou ritual practice, possessing the Nine Cauldrons indicated legitimate rule. The vessels themselves mattered less than what they represented: the capacity to refine raw force into sustaining forms. Chardin paints bourgeois domesticity, but the principle remains. In the hexagram sequence, The Cauldron follows Revolution: after overthrowing corrupt forms, new vessels must be carefully constructed to hold what comes next.
焦氏易林
焦延寿《易林》——第50卦本卦之辞。西汉时期以四言诗阐释卦变，为最早的系统性易学占辞集。
積德之至，君政且溫，伊呂股肱，國富民安。
木上有火，鼎之象——鼎化為鼎，本性之純粹表達。
阅读完整注释 ↓
木上有火，鼎之象——鼎化為鼎，本性之純粹表達。積德之至——德行積累至極致。君政且溫——君主施政溫厚。伊呂股肱——伊尹、呂尚為君之肱股。國富民安——國家富強，百姓安居。伊尹自庖廚而為商之開國元勛，呂尚自渭濱垂釣而為周之創業功臣。賢相出於卑微而終佐明君，此鼎之本義——烹飪以養賢，養賢以治國。從鼎至鼎，同卦之變，純一不雜。鼎既烹又治，火風相濟，冶煉至無雜質，唯養民之本。
English commentary
Fire over wind fills the cauldron — and the cauldron transforms into itself, the purest expression of its own nature. Accumulated virtue reaches its zenith; the ruler governs with warmth and wisdom. Yi Yin and Lu Shang serve as the sovereign's right arms, and the nation grows rich while the people rest secure. Yi Yin, the cook who became Shang's founding minister, and Lu Shang (Taigong), the fisherman who became Zhou's founding strategist, represent the ideal of sage-ministers discovered in humble circumstances and elevated through merit. From The Cauldron to The Cauldron, the identity transformation signifies perfection: the vessel fulfills its own nature completely. The cauldron that cooks also governs — fire over wind, refining the offering until nothing remains but nourishment itself.