Hexagram 11: Peace → Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water

Peace
Earth / Heaven
The Abysmal Water
Water / Water
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5).

Line 1

初九 拔茅茹。以其彙。征吉。

pulling
máothatch
by the roots
thereby
uprooting its
huìwhole cluster
zhēngto expedite
promising

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 3

九三 无平不陂。无往不復。艱貞无咎。勿恤其孚。于食有福。

there is not
pínglevel
without
slope
there is no
wǎnggoing
without
return
jiāndifficult
zhēnto persist
without
jiùmistake
do not
worry
these
certainties
in
shínourishment
yǒufind
happiness

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。

Lord
Yi (next to the last Shang Emperor)
guīgiving
mèihis little sister
meant
zhǐhappiness
yuánfirst-rate
good fortune

Six in the fifth place means: The sovereign I Gives his daughter in marriage. This brings blessing And supreme good fortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramEarth WaterThe Receptive → The Deep
Lower TrigramHeaven WaterThe Creative → The Deep

Yilin Verse

金精耀怒,帶劍過午;兩虎相距,雖驚无咎。

Metal's brilliance flares in wrath, sword belted past the noon hour. Two tigers face off; though alarming, no blame.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Earth above heaven, Peace's equilibrium flashes into metallic confrontation. The essence of metal blazes with fury; a sword is worn past the noon hour, violating the ritual norm that weapons should be sheathed by midday. Two tigers face each other in standoff — terrifying, yet the judgment is 'though alarming, no blame.' The metallic fury and noonday sword echo military omen language: martial energy at its zenith. The two tigers, perfectly matched, neutralize each other. From Peace to The Abysmal, doubled water plunges through danger after danger. The transformation reveals that the confrontation's alarming surface conceals a deeper passage through peril — one that, navigated with constancy, brings no lasting harm.

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