Adorning the Feet, and the Carriage That Is Left Behind

Grace begins at ground level, with the part of a person that touches the road. Legge's translation shows one adorning the way of his feet, and adds that he can discard a carriage and go on foot. Two possibilities are being weighed in a single image. A carriage is available, and it would carry both the traveller and a certain amount of standing; walking carries neither. The line chooses the walking, and treats that choice as the adornment rather than as the absence of one.

The hexagram places the mountain above fire, a glow at the foot of a great stillness, and its Judgment allows grace free course while warning that little is gained when ornament is permitted to lead. The opening line is the cleanest statement of that warning. Whatever is beautiful here comes from the manner of going, not from the vehicle, and a person of no rank who walks well is not diminished by having no carriage to be seen in.

A yang stroke correctly occupies this odd position at the base of the lower trigram Li, so the firmness is properly seated and needs no external support to stand. The position is the lowest in the hexagram, which is precisely why the refusal costs nothing and means everything. At the bottom there is no office to maintain and no appearance to protect, so declining a borrowed display is simple honesty about where one actually stands.