履 → 蠱
Hexagram 10: Treading → Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 5).
Line 1
初九 素履往。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Simple conduct. Progress without blame.
Line 3
六三 眇能視。跛能履。履虎尾。咥人凶。武人為于大君。
Six in the third place means: A one-eyed man is able to see, A lame man is able to tread. He treads on the tail of the tiger. The tiger bites the man. Misfortune. Thus does a warrior act on behalf of his great prince.
Line 4
九四 履虎尾。愬愬終吉。
Nine in the fourth place means: He treads on the tail of the tiger. Caution and circumspection Lead ultimately to good fortune.
Line 5
九五 夬履。貞厲。
Nine in the fifth place means: Resolute conduct. Perseverance with awareness of danger.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
齊景惑疑，為孺子牛；嫡庶不明，賊孽為患。
Duke Jing of Qi was confused and bewildered; he played the ox for the child. Legitimate and bastard lines unclear; treacherous offspring bring calamity.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the lake, conduct tested by indulgence. Duke Jing of Qi, besotted with his young favorite, went on all fours and held a rope in his teeth to play 'child's ox' for the boy. When the child fell and broke the duke's tooth, Jing did not punish him — a ruler debasing himself for an illegitimate heir. With legitimate and illegitimate lines blurred, treacherous offspring became a plague upon the state. The Tian clan later exploited this disorder to usurp Qi entirely. From Treading to Work on the Decayed, wind stirs beneath the mountain, exposing rot. Indulgent conduct at the top corrupts the foundations, and what is decayed must be repaired from within.
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