謙 → 歸妹
Hexagram 15: Modesty → Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4).
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 3
九三 勞謙君子。有終吉。
Nine in the third place means: A superior man of modesty and merit Carries things to conclusion. Good fortune.
Line 4
六四 无不利撝謙。
Six in the fourth place means: Nothing that would not further modesty In movement.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
爪牙之士，怨毒祈父。轉憂與己，傷不及母。
Warriors with fangs and claws; they resent and curse their commander. Turning the trouble upon themselves; the injury does not reach the mother.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth holds the mountain, and the warriors — 'claws and teeth' of the king — voice their bitter grievance against the Qi Fu, the military commander. This directly echoes the Shijing ode 'Qi Fu' from the Xiao Ya: 'Qi Fu! I am the king's claws and teeth. Why do you deploy me endlessly, with no place to rest?' The soldiers redirect their resentment from the ruler to the officer, shielding the sovereign by absorbing the wound themselves: 'turning worry upon oneself, so harm does not reach the mother.' From Modesty to the Marrying Maiden, thunder moves above the lake, a union marred by subordination. The soldiers' complaint embodies this: bound in service they did not choose, swallowing bitterness to preserve the hierarchy.
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