履 → 師
Hexagram 10: Treading → Hexagram 7: The Army
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 素履往。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Simple conduct. Progress without blame.
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
羊腸九縈，相推併前；止須王孫，乃能上天。
The winding sheep-gut trail, nine turns pushing onward. One must await the prince; only then can one ascend to heaven.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the lake, yet the path spirals upward through a narrow intestinal pass — nine twists pushing travelers forward in a crush. The road is the famous Yangtze gorge route known as Sheep Gut Pass, winding so tightly that each person must shove the next to advance. Only when one stops to wait for the prince does the way to heaven open. The verse stages a paradox: brute forward motion fails on a treacherous path, but deference to rightful authority clears the passage entirely. From Treading to the Army, disciplined conduct transforms into organized collective force. Water hidden within the earth channels the crowd's chaotic energy into directed power.
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