同人 → 艮
Hexagram 13: Fellowship → Hexagram 52: Keeping Still Mountain
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5).
Line 1
初九 同人于門。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Fellowship with men at the gate. No blame.
Line 4
九四 乘其墉。弗克攻。吉。
Nine in the fourth place means: He climbs up on his wall; he cannot attack. Good fortune.
Line 5
九五 同人先號咷而後笑。大師克相遇。
Nine in the fifth place means: Men bound in fellowship first weep and lament, But afterward they laugh. After great struggles they succeed in meeting.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
龍生無常，或托空葉；憑乘風雲，為堯立功。
A dragon's birth follows no fixed pattern; it may lodge upon an empty leaf. Mounting wind and cloud; it achieves great merit for Yao.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and fire form Fellowship as a dragon rises from the humblest beginnings. Born without fixed station, sometimes resting on an empty leaf, the dragon awaits its moment — then mounts the wind and clouds to accomplish great deeds for Emperor Yao. The dragon's origin in nothingness makes its ascent all the more extraordinary: no lineage, no territory, only readiness. From Fellowship to Keeping Still, the transformation arrests this soaring narrative. Twin mountains in Keeping Still; the noble man does not think beyond his position. The dragon that served Yao now rests — not from exhaustion but from completion. Stillness after achievement is the mountain's gift: knowing when to stop moving is as vital as knowing when to fly.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store