Hexagram 4 of 64
蒙
Youthful Folly
Méng
Upper Trigram
艮
Mountain
Keeping Still, Resting
Mountain · Youngest Son
Lower Trigram
坎
Water
Abysmal, Dangerous
Water · Middle Son
The Judgment
Youthful Folly has success. It is not I who seek the young fool; the young fool seeks me. At the first oracle I inform them. If they ask two or three times, that is importunity. I do not inform the importunate.
The fool who knows they are foolish is already half-wise. The teacher cannot do the learning for the student. Sincerity of inquiry is the gateway. Repeated mechanical questioning blocks insight.
The Image
A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain — the image of Youth. Thus the superior person fosters their character by thoroughness in all they do.
The spring is small but pure, and its waters will carve their way through any obstacle given time. Thoroughness in small daily work is how character is built.
The Six Lines
Line 1
To make a fool develop, it furthers to apply discipline. Fetters should be removed. To go on in this way brings humiliation.
Clear limits and firm guidance help the beginner. But punishment used as an end in itself hardens resistance.
Line 2
To bear with fools in kindness brings good fortune. To know how to take women brings good fortune. The son is capable of taking charge of the household.
Patient and gentle acceptance of others' limitations, combined with genuine care, enables a healthy household or community.
Line 3
Take not a maiden who loses herself when she sees a man of bronze.
Do not follow or admire someone simply for their force or charisma, losing all sense of your own values and direction.
Line 4
Entangled folly brings humiliation.
When ignorance turns willful and the student refuses to learn from any source, they become trapped in their own confusion.
Line 5
Childlike folly brings good fortune.
True openness and humility — the mind of a beginner — is the greatest asset of the learner. Approach each day with innocent receptivity.
Line 6
In punishing folly, it does not further to commit transgressions. The only thing that furthers is to prevent transgressions.
Correction must address the root cause, not vent frustration. Discipline with clarity and purpose, not anger.
For contemplation and self-reflection only. Not a substitute for professional advice.