Hexagram 16: Enthusiasm → Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart

Enthusiasm
Thunder / Earth
Splitting Apart
Mountain / Earth
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

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

Line 4

九四 由豫。大有得。勿疑。朋盍簪。

yóuat the source
readiness
there is with much
yǒuto have
to gain
do not
hesitation
péngcompanions
gather
zānas

Nine in the fourth place means: The source of enthusiasm. He achieves great things. Doubt not. You gather friends around you As a hair clasp gathers the hair.

Line 6

上六 冥豫。成有渝。无咎。

míngblind
readiness
chéngaccomplish
yǒuwhile
a change for worse
no
jiùblame

Six at the top means: Deluded enthusiasm. But if after completion one changes, There is no blame.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramThunder MountainThe Arousing → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramEarth Earth

Yilin Verse

野鳶山鵲,奕棊六博;三梟四散,主人勝客。

Wild kites and mountain magpies play chess and liubo; three owls scatter in four directions -- the host defeats the guest.

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

Commentary

Thunder breaks from the earth as wild kites and mountain magpies descend upon a game board. The verse depicts a contest of strategy — chess or liubo, the ancient dice-and-board game. Three pieces are 'owled' (captured) and four scattered; the host defeats the guest. The bird imagery suggests cunning, opportunistic players, while the decisive outcome favors the one who holds the home position. From Enthusiasm to Splitting Apart, the transformation is fitting: the mountain crumbles from the earth as the loser's position disintegrates. In Splitting Apart, yin lines erode yang from below until only the top remains. The defeated guest's forces are systematically dismantled, stripped away piece by piece, exactly as the hexagram describes.

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