隨 → 蠱
Hexagram 17: Following → Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 官有渝。貞吉。出門交有功。
Nine at the beginning means: The standard is changing. Perseverance brings good fortune. To go out of the door in company Produces deeds.
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.
Line 6
上六 拘係之。乃從維之。王用亨于西山。
Six at the top means: He meets with firm allegiance And is still further bound. The king introduces him To the Western Mountain.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
邊鄙不聳，民狎其野；穡人成功，年歲大有。
The borderlands are at peace; the people are familiar with their fields. The farmer succeeds in his work; the harvest is abundant.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rests within the lake, and the frontier lies quiet. No alarms stir the border; the people tend their fields at ease. Farmers reap successful harvests, and the year yields great abundance. The verse paints the ideal aftermath of good governance: when threats recede, agriculture thrives and civilians flourish without disturbance. From Following to Work on the Decayed, the transformation is counter-intuitive — Gu signals decay and corruption needing repair. Yet this verse shows Gu's constructive face: the wind beneath the mountain that ventilates stagnation. Peace at the border creates space for the slow, patient work of restoring what has fallen into disrepair, and the harvest proves that renovation has already begun to bear fruit.
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