履 → 夬
Hexagram 10: Treading → Hexagram 43: Breakthrough
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 3, 6).
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 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
吉日車攻,田弋獲禽;宣王飲酒,以告嘉功。
On an auspicious day, the war chariots advance; hunting with bows, they capture game. King Xuan drinks wine, to proclaim his glorious achievement.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the lake, and the royal hunt begins under auspicious skies. The verse quotes two Shijing odes — 'Ji Ri' (Lucky Day) and 'Che Gong' (War Chariots) — both celebrating King Xuan of Zhou's grand hunts. On a propitious day the war chariots advance, and the hunt yields abundant game. King Xuan drinks wine to announce his splendid achievement. These hunts were military exercises disguised as sport: the king demonstrated his army's discipline and rewarded his officers with feasting. From Treading to Breakthrough, the lake rises above heaven. Proper royal conduct — hunting in season, rewarding the worthy — breaks through stagnation and restores the dynasty's vigor.
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