乾 → 復
Hexagram 1: The Creative → Hexagram 24: Return
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
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.
Line 4
九四 或躍在淵。无咎。
Nine in the fourth place means: Wavering flight over the depths. No blame.
Line 5
九五 飛龍在天。利見大人。
Nine in the fifth place means: Flying dragon in the heavens. It furthers one to see the great man.
Line 6
上九 亢龍有悔。
Nine at the top means: Arrogant dragon will have cause to repent.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
三人為旅，俱歸北海，入門上堂，拜謁王母，勞賜我酒。
Three men travel together, all journeying to the northern sea. Entering the gate, ascending the hall, they pay respects to the Queen Mother. She rewards them with wine.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Three travelers journey together to the northern sea, where they enter the gates, ascend the hall, and pay their respects to the Queen Mother, who rewards them with wine. The Queen Mother of the West dwells above the Weak Water on Mount Kunlun, guardian of immortality. From Creative to Return, thunder stirs within the earth — the solstice moment when one yang line re-enters at the bottom. The three travelers' pilgrimage northward and their reception by the cosmic matriarch mirrors the return of vital energy after the darkest point. What has been journeying through desolation finds its way home to be welcomed and restored.
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