ABSTRACT
Anger, misunderstanding, conflict, joy, friendship, intimacy, forgiveness, sorrow, gratitude, and, one hopes, acceptance are all waves that will move through and, occasionally perhaps, threaten to drown the marriage partners. By its very nature the marriage relationship involve the shared experience of births and deaths, gains and losses, the journey through life towards old age and death. On the one hand, there are the 'givens' of nature, own and that of the universe within which we live. On the other hand, as human beings we need to learn how to endure the challenges and vicissitudes of life without being crushed by them or becoming so passive in the face of them that we simply allow to be blown about as a bit of grass is in the wind. There are two aspects to Duration as reflected in the hexagram. Chen is the oldest son and Sun the oldest daughter, and this leads to marriage as a central theme in this hexagram.
