履 → 剝
Hexagram 10: Treading → Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 素履往。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Simple conduct. Progress without blame.
Line 2
九二 履道坦坦。幽人貞吉。
Nine in the second place means: Treading a smooth, level course. The perseverance of a dark man Brings good fortune.
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.
Line 6
上九 視履考祥。其旋元吉。
Nine at the top means: Look to your conduct and weigh the favorable signs. When everything is fulfilled, supreme good fortune comes.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
名成德就，項領不試；景公耋老，尼父逝去。
Fame established, virtue complete; the neck is never tested. Duke Jing grows old and infirm; Master Ni passes away.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the lake, and a lifetime of accomplishment reaches its twilight. Fame is established and virtue fulfilled, yet the neck stiffens with age and is never tested again. Duke Jing of Qi grows old; Father Ni — Confucius — passes away. The verse mourns the end of an era: the sage who could have transformed the world dies without a kingdom to govern, and the duke who might have reformed his state runs out of time. From Treading to Splitting Apart, the mountain crumbles upon the earth. Achievement that is not transmitted erodes — glory peels away layer by layer, and what was built returns to dust.
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