隨 → 頤
Hexagram 17: Following → Hexagram 27: Nourishment
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 4, 5, 6).
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
亡羊捕牢，張氏失牛；騂駟奔走，鵠盜我魚。
Mending the pen after losing the sheep; the Zhang clan lost their ox. Red horses bolt and run; the swan steals my fish.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rests within the lake, and losses multiply on every side. The sheep has fled — only now is the pen repaired, too late. The Zhang family loses its ox. Red-maned horses bolt in all directions, and a swan steals the fish. The verse piles image upon image of property slipping away: the proverb 'mend the pen after losing the sheep' signals belated action, while each subsequent loss compounds the futility. From Following to Nourishment, the transformation is pointed — Yi's mountain above thunder teaches careful speech and moderated consumption. Every lost animal here represents sustenance squandered through inattention. True nourishment requires guarding what one has before seeking more.
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