否 → 臨
Hexagram 12: Standstill → Hexagram 19: Approach
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 拔茅茹。以其彙。貞吉。亨。
Six at the beginning means: When ribbon grass is pulled up, the sod comes with it. Each according to his kind. Perseverance brings good fortune and success.
Line 2
六二 包承。小人吉。大人否。亨。
Six in the second place means: They bear and endure; This means good fortune for inferior people. The standstill serves to help the great man to attain success.
Line 4
九四 有命无咎。疇離祉。
Nine in the fourth place means: He who acts at the command of the highest Remains without blame. Those of like mind partake of the blessing.
Line 5
九五 休否。大人吉。其亡其亡。繫于苞桑。
Nine in the fifth place means: Standstill is giving way. Good fortune for the great man. "What if it should fail, what if it should fail?" In this way he ties it to a cluster of mulberry shoots.
Line 6
上九 傾否。先否後喜。
Nine at the top means: The standstill comes to an end. First standstill, then good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
猿墮高木，不踒手足；保我金玉，還歸其室。
The gibbon falls from a high tree yet does not injure hand or foot. Guarding my gold and jade, it returns to its chamber.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and earth refuse to mingle, yet an ape falls from a tall tree without injuring its hands or feet. It preserves its gold and jade intact and returns safely to its dwelling. From Standstill to Approach, Pi's sealed world opens into earth resting above the lake — the generous downward gaze of authority extending its reach. Lin's image is the shore overlooking the water, drawing near with benevolence. The ape's remarkable fall captures Lin's essence: even when one tumbles from a great height, natural agility and the preservation of what matters most — one's treasures and one's home — allow a safe landing. Standstill's crisis is navigated not by climbing higher but by knowing how to fall gracefully into the approaching embrace of better fortune.
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