謙 → 節
Hexagram 15: Modesty → Hexagram 60: Limitation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 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 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 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
穿鼻繫株，為虎所拘；王母祝榴，禍不成災，突然自來。
A ring through the nose, tethered to a stake; held captive by the tiger. The Queen Mother blesses the pomegranate; disaster does not become calamity. It comes upon one suddenly.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth holds the mountain, and a beast is pierced through the nose and tethered to a post, held captive by the tiger. Then the Queen Mother of the West offers her blessing upon a pomegranate — a fruit symbolizing fertility and abundance — and disaster does not fully materialize, arriving suddenly but dissipating. The tethered beast and the tiger's grip evoke helpless constraint, yet the Queen Mother's intervention deflects the worst. From Modesty to Limitation, water rests upon the lake — the image of measured restraint, neither too much nor too little. The verse enacts Limitation's dual nature: the captive animal suffers excessive constraint, but the Queen Mother's blessing imposes a different kind of limit — capping the disaster before it overwhelms.
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