Hexagram 15: Modesty → Hexagram 59: Dispersion

Modesty
Earth / Mountain
Dispersion
Wind / Water
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5, 6).

Line 2

六二 鳴謙。貞吉。

míngproclaim
qiānauthenticity
zhēnpersistence
is promising

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。

láodiligence
qiānand
jūnin
young one
yǒuhave
zhōngresults
promising

Nine in the third place means: A superior man of modesty and merit Carries things to conclusion. Good fortune.

Line 5

六五 不富以其鄰。利用侵伐。无不利。

there is no
enrichment
making use of
one's
línneighbors
it is worthwhile
yòngand useful
qīnto occupy
and subjugate
without
doubt
worthwhile

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.

Line 6

上六 鳴謙。利用行師。征邑國。

míngproclaiming
qiānauthenticity
it is worthwhile
yòngand useful
xíngto move
shīthe militia
zhēngto advance on
home town
guóand province

Six at the top means: Modesty that comes to expression. It is favorable to set armies marching To chastise one's own city and one's country.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramEarth WindThe Receptive → The Gentle
Lower TrigramMountain WaterKeeping Still → The Deep

Yilin Verse

逐鹿山巔,利去我西;維邪南北,利無不得。

Chasing the deer up the mountain ridge; profit departs to our west. Branching out to south and north; there is no profit not gained.

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

Commentary

Earth holds the mountain, and one chases a deer across the mountain ridge. Profit lies to the west; diverging south and north in every direction, there is nothing that does not yield gain. The hunt across high ground becomes a metaphor for opportunity radiating from a central pursuit — the deer leads westward, but all peripheral directions also prove profitable. From Modesty to Dispersion, wind moves across water, scattering what was gathered. The verse recasts Dispersion's scattering as beneficial dispersal: the hunter's path diverges in multiple directions, and each branching yields returns. Modesty's concentrated inner mountain gives way to the expansive distribution of Dispersion, where breaking apart from a single focus allows gains to flow from unexpected quarters.

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