Hexagram 16: Enthusiasm → Hexagram 42: Increase

Enthusiasm
Thunder / Earth
Increase
Wind / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5, 6).

Line 1

初六 鳴豫。凶。

míngproclaiming
readiness
xiōngdisappointing

Six at the beginning means: Enthusiasm that expresses itself Brings misfortune.

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 5

六五 貞疾。恆不死。

zhēnpersistent
affliction
hénga long time
without
dying

Six in the fifth place means: Persistently ill, and still does not die.

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 WindThe Arousing → The Gentle
Lower TrigramEarth ThunderThe Receptive → The Arousing

Yilin Verse

童妾獨宿,長女未室;利無所得。

The young concubine sleeps alone; the elder daughter is still unwed. No profit to be gained.

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

Commentary

Thunder stirs the earth, but the young concubine sleeps alone and the eldest daughter remains unmarried. No profit can be gained from this situation. The verse depicts domestic frustration at its most basic: women of marriageable age with no prospects, the household failing to fulfill its generative function. The concubine without a husband's visit and the daughter without a match are parallel images of potential unrealized. From Enthusiasm to Increase, the irony is sharp. Increase's image is wind and thunder together — the gentleman sees good and emulates it, finds fault and corrects it. Yet the verse shows a situation where nothing can be increased because the fundamental pairings have not been made. Enthusiasm without connection yields no return.

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