泰 → 損
Hexagram 11: Peace → Hexagram 41: Decrease
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 3, 6).
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 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
挒蔽牡荊，生賢山傍；仇敵背憎，孰肯相迎？
Thorny shrubs and wild brambles grow beside a remote hillside. Enemies harbor contempt and malice; who would willingly come to greet them?
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth above heaven, Peace's virtue meets hostility. Thorny bushes crowd and block the chaste tree, yet a worthy person is born beside the mountain, growing despite the obstruction. But enemies and rivals harbor resentment — who among them would come to welcome such a one? Talent emerges in difficult terrain only to face social rejection. The verse contrasts natural growth with human malice: the plant pushes through thorns, but the person finds no society willing to receive them. From Peace to Decrease, the mountain towers above the lake, restraining desire and anger. The transformation suggests that when the world refuses welcome, one must voluntarily reduce expectations rather than force acceptance.
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