小畜

Hexagram 12: Standstill → Hexagram 9: Small Taming

Standstill
Heaven / Earth
小畜
Small Taming
Wind / Heaven
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4).

Line 1

初六 拔茅茹。以其彙。貞吉。亨。

pulling
máothatch
by the roots
thereby
uprooting its
huìwhole cluster
zhēnpersistence
promising
hēngfulfilling

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。

bāoembrace
chéngassignments
xiǎolesser
rénone's
promise
mature
rénhuman being's
negated
hēngfulfillment

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 3

六三 包羞。

bāoembracing
xiūthe shame

Six in the third place means: They bear shame.

Line 4

九四 有命无咎。疇離祉。

yǒuhaving
mìnghigher purpose
no
jiùwrong
chóuthis category
distinct
zhǐhappiness

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.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramHeaven WindThe Creative → The Gentle
Lower TrigramEarth HeavenThe Receptive → The Creative

Yilin Verse

載元無褌,臝裎出門;小兒作笑,君為憂患。

Wearing a hat but no trousers, stepping out the gate half-naked. Children laugh aloud; the gentleman is cause for worry.

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

Commentary

Heaven and earth refuse to communicate, and a man goes out without trousers, naked and exposed at the gate. Children laugh at him, while the gentleman is filled with dread. From Standstill to Small Taming, the complete blockage of Pi meets the gentle wind of Xiao Xu coursing above heaven — a breeze that restrains but cannot fully clothe. The verse is a parable of insufficient covering: the wind of cultural refinement (Xiao Xu's 'beautifying civil virtue') cannot remedy a deficit this fundamental. One who lacks the minimum is beyond the reach of gentle cultivation. The children's laughter and the gentleman's worry capture two responses to exposure — the naive find it amusing, while the wise see catastrophe.

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