謙 → 需
Hexagram 15: Modesty → Hexagram 5: Waiting
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5).
Line 1
初六 謙謙君子。用涉大川。吉。
Six at the beginning means: A superior man modest about his modesty May cross the great water. Good fortune.
Line 2
六二 鳴謙。貞吉。
Six in the second place means: Modesty that comes to expression. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Line 5
六五 不富以其鄰。利用侵伐。无不利。
Six in the fifth place means: No boasting of wealth before one's neighbor. It is favorable to attack with force. Nothing that would not further.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
鳳生會稽，稍巨能飛；翱翔往來，為眾鳥雄。
The phoenix is born in Kuaiji; gradually it grows and learns to fly. Soaring back and forth; it becomes chief among all birds.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth holds a mountain in stillness, yet from Kuaiji — the sacred mountain where Yu assembled the lords — a phoenix is born. Gradually it grows, learns to fly, soaring back and forth until it becomes chief among all birds. Kuaiji carries deep associations: it is where Yu the Great convened the feudal lords and where Goujian later rose from humiliation to conquest. The phoenix hatched there partakes of that geography of patient revival. From Modesty to Waiting, clouds gather above heaven — the moment before rain, requiring trust in timing. The phoenix does not rush its growth but waits until its wings are strong. Modesty's buried mountain nourishes the phoenix in secret until the right season arrives for its ascent.
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