隨 → 離
Hexagram 17: Following → Hexagram 30: The Clinging Fire
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).
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 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
不勝私情，以利自嬰；北室出孤，毀其良家。
Unable to master private passions, entangled in self-interest; from the northern chamber an orphan emerges -- the good household is destroyed.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rests within the lake, but private desire overwhelms public duty. Unable to master selfish feeling, one entangles oneself in personal profit. From the northern chamber an orphan emerges, and a fine household is destroyed. The 'northern chamber' (北室) in classical usage often denotes the women's quarters or a concubine's room; the orphan born there signals an illicit entanglement that fractures the family. From Following to the Clinging, doubled fire illuminates without mercy — Li's clarity exposes what darkness concealed. The verse warns that following private passion rather than principle brings everything to light in the worst possible way, leaving the household in ruins.
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