乾 → 萃
Hexagram 1: The Creative → Hexagram 45: Gathering Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 6).
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.
Line 6
上九 亢龍有悔。
Nine at the top means: Arrogant dragon will have cause to repent.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
任劣力薄，孱駑恐怯，如蝟見鵲，不敢拒格。
Appointed but feeble, strength thin; timid and afraid. Like a hedgehog facing a magpie, not daring to resist or stand.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Talent is meager and strength is thin, timid as a worn-out nag. Like a hedgehog confronting a magpie, one dares not resist or fight back. From Creative to Gathering, the lake collects upon the earth and the ruler prepares weapons against the unexpected. Yet this verse shows the opposite of Cui's martial readiness: utter helplessness. The hedgehog — normally formidable in its defensive posture — here cowers before a mere magpie, unable even to bristle. When the gathering demands collective strength, the individual who brings only weakness to the assembly becomes a liability. The verse warns that heaven's creative force, if not cultivated, dwindles into cringing inadequacy when the moment of assembly arrives.
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