乾 → 解
Hexagram 1: The Creative → Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 潛龍勿用。
Nine at the beginning means: Hidden dragon. Do not act.
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 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
暗昧冥語，相傳詿誤。鬼魅所舍，誰知臥處。
Dark, obscure murmurings; rumors passed along in error. A dwelling of ghosts and spirits; who knows where to rest?
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Murmured words in darkness, messages garbled as they pass from mouth to mouth. This is a dwelling place of ghosts and phantoms — who knows where they rest? From Creative to Deliverance, thunder and rain burst forth together, releasing tension and pardoning faults. Yet the verse captures the confusion that precedes deliverance: before the storm breaks, everything is murky, unreliable, haunted. The whispered falsehoods are the accumulated pressure that Xie's thunderstorm will eventually clear. Ghosts occupy spaces where clarity has been abandoned. Deliverance comes not through understanding the darkness but through the explosive release that scatters it — but first one must endure the disorientation of not knowing where anything stands.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store