否 → 訟
Hexagram 12: Standstill → Hexagram 6: Conflict
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 2).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
珪璧琮璋，執贄見王；百里甯越，應聘齊秦。
Jade tablets and ritual jades; one bears offerings to see the king. Baili Xi and Ning Yue answer summons from Qi and Qin.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and earth stand apart, yet jade tokens — gui, bi, cong, zhang — are presented as credentials before the king. Baili Xi and Ning Qi, two men who rose from obscurity through talent, answer the summons of Qi and Qin. Baili Xi was ransomed from slavery for five ram skins to become chief minister of Qin; Ning Qi sang while feeding cattle until Duke Huan recognized his worth. From Standstill to Conflict, the stagnation of Pi gives way to heaven and water moving in contrary directions. Conflict's counsel is to plan carefully from the outset, and these two figures exemplify precisely that: they transformed lowly origins into state-level appointments by presenting their credentials at the right moment to the right sovereign.
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