Volume 2: The Six Relations (Liu Qin Lun) · Chapter 55
The Image of the Minister (Chen Xiang)
Attributed to Jing Tu (Song); commentary tradition by Liu Bowen (Ming)
Modern Digest & Life Relevance
A minister must not overreach
The mirror of the previous chapter: when the subordinate forces — wealth, output, the elements the day master commands — grow beyond what the self can carry, the excess must be trimmed and the self strengthened. Taken with the earlier chapter, the pair gives the book's basic two-way remedy: reduce what dominates, and draw up from below what has grown too heavy.
Key Concepts:Day Master (Self Element)