乾 → 損
Hexagram 1: The Creative → Hexagram 41: Decrease
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
姬姜祥淑，二人偶食，論仁議福，以安王室。
Ladies Ji and Jiang, auspicious and virtuous; two companions dine together. Discussing benevolence, deliberating on blessings, to bring peace to the royal house.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
The Ji and Jiang clans — representing the royal houses of Zhou and Qi — sit down together in auspicious harmony. Two figures share a meal, discussing benevolence and deliberating on blessings to secure the royal house. From Creative to Decrease, the mountain stands above the lake, the image of restraining anger and curbing desire. The verse shows Decrease at its most constructive: two great lineages voluntarily diminish personal ambition to strengthen the collective. Their shared meal is not indulgence but deliberate moderation — enough to sustain, not enough to corrupt. The Ji-Jiang alliance represents the Zhou political order at its best: mutual sacrifice in service of stability.
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