泰 → 觀
Hexagram 11: Peace → Hexagram 20: Contemplation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 拔茅茹。以其彙。征吉。
Nine at the beginning means: When ribbon grass is pulled up, the sod comes with it. Each according to his kind. Undertakings bring good fortune.
Line 2
九二 包荒。用馮河。不遐遺。朋亡。得尚于中行。
Nine in the second place means: Bearing with the uncultured in gentleness, Fording the river with resolution, Not neglecting what is distant, Not regarding one's companions: Thus one may manage to walk in the middle.
Line 3
九三 无平不陂。无往不復。艱貞无咎。勿恤其孚。于食有福。
Nine in the third place means: No plain not followed by a slope. No going not followed by a return. He who remains persevering in danger Is without blame. Do not complain about this truth; Enjoy the good fortune you still possess.
Line 5
六五 帝乙歸妹。以祉元吉。
Six in the fifth place means: The sovereign I Gives his daughter in marriage. This brings blessing And supreme good fortune.
Line 6
上六 城復于隍。勿用師。自邑告命。貞吝。
Six at the top means: The wall falls back into the moat. Use no army now. Make your commands known within your own town. Perseverance brings humiliation.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
忍醜少羞，無面有頭；虛日以弊，消寡耗減。
Enduring shame with little modesty; faceless yet with a head. Empty days spent in decline; diminished, dwindled, worn away.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth above heaven, Peace's open communion degrades into shamelessness. One endures ugliness with little shame — a face devoid of expression, a head without dignity. Days pass in idle decline, wasting away as resources dwindle and diminish. The verse paints a portrait of moral entropy: not dramatic villainy but the slow erosion of standards, where indignity becomes tolerable and decay is simply endured. From Peace to Contemplation, wind sweeps across the earth as the ancient kings surveyed their domains to assess the people. The transformation carries a warning: what the ruler sees from above may not be encouraging. Contemplation reveals the truth that comfort preferred to ignore.
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