豫 → 需
Hexagram 16: Enthusiasm → Hexagram 5: Waiting
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Line 1
初六 鳴豫。凶。
Six at the beginning means: Enthusiasm that expresses itself Brings misfortune.
Line 2
六二 介于石。不終日。貞吉。
Six in the second place means: Firm as a rock. Not a whole day. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Line 3
六三 盱豫悔。遲有悔。
Six in the third place means: Enthusiasm that looks upward creates remorse. Hesitation brings remorse.
Line 4
九四 由豫。大有得。勿疑。朋盍簪。
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。
Six in the fifth place means: Persistently ill, and still does not die.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
氈裘羶國,文禮不飭;跨馬控弦,伐我都邑。
A land of felt robes and rank mutton, where rites and courtesy are not observed; astride horses, drawing bows, they attack our capital.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder erupts from the earth, but what rises is not music — it is mounted raiders from the northern steppe. Clad in felt and furs, smelling of mutton, knowing nothing of rites or written culture, they cross the frontier on horseback with bows drawn, attacking the capital itself. The verse paints the classic Chinese fear: the barbarian invasion that overwhelms civilization's defenses. From Enthusiasm to Waiting, the transformation is grimly apt. Waiting's image is clouds gathering over heaven — danger approaches but has not yet struck. The raiders' assault transforms joyful preparedness into anxious vigilance, and the proper response is not panic but the composed readiness that Waiting demands: one must nourish oneself and bide the time.
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