乾 → 否
Hexagram 1: The Creative → Hexagram 12: Standstill
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3).
Line 1
初九 潛龍勿用。
Nine at the beginning means: Hidden dragon. Do not act.
Line 2
九二 見龍在田。利見大人。
Nine in the second place means: Dragon appearing in the field. It furthers one to see the great man.
Line 3
九三 君子終日乾乾。夕惕若厲。无咎。
Nine in the third place means: All day long the superior man is creatively active. At nightfall his mind is still beset with cares. Danger. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
載日晶光，驂駕六龍。祿命徹天，封為燕王。
Bearing the sun’s crystal radiance, riding a chariot drawn by six dragons. Fortune and destiny reach to heaven; enfeoffed as King of Yan.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Bearing the sun's crystal radiance, riding a chariot drawn by six dragons — the image of the sovereign ascending to supreme authority. Fortune and mandate reach to heaven; the title conferred is King of Yan. From Creative to Standstill, this seems paradoxical: investiture at the moment of blockage. Yet Pi's image — heaven and earth refusing to mingle — describes the lonely eminence of the ruler who has risen so high that communication with below has ceased. The six dragons recall the Qian hexagram's own line text: 'the flying dragon in heaven.' Enfeoffment as Yan King evokes Han-dynasty investiture, a title that carries glory but also isolation atop a frozen hierarchy.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store