隨 → 泰
Hexagram 17: Following → Hexagram 11: Peace
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5).
Line 2
六二 係小子。失丈夫。
Six in the second place means: If one clings to the little boy, One loses the strong man.
Line 3
六三 係丈夫。失小子。隨有求得。利居貞。
Six in the third place means: If one clings to the strong man, One loses the little boy. Through following one finds what one seeks. It furthers one to remain persevering.
Line 4
九四 隨有獲。貞凶。有孚在道以明。何咎。
Nine in the fourth place means: Following creates success. Perseverance brings misfortune. To go one's way with sincerity brings clarity. How could there be blame in this?
Line 5
九五 孚于嘉。吉。
Nine in the fifth place means: Sincere in the good. Good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
搏鳩彈鵲，逐兔山北；九盡日暮，失獲無得。
Shooting doves, pelting magpies, chasing hares north of the hill; by the ninth hour, day is done -- nothing caught, nothing gained.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rests within the lake, but the hunter scatters his efforts. He shoots at doves and catapults at magpies, chases rabbits north of the mountain — yet by nightfall, after exhausting all his chances, he has caught nothing. The number nine signals completion: every opportunity has been spent. The verse depicts diffused pursuit as guaranteed failure — spreading attention across too many targets yields none. From Following to Peace, the irony is sharp: Tai represents the perfect exchange between heaven and earth, effortless prosperity. But reaching that harmony requires focused commitment, not frantic dispersal. The hunter who follows every quarry follows none.
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