隨 → 渙
Hexagram 17: Following → Hexagram 59: Dispersion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 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 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 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
天帝懸車，廢禮不朝；禳福不制，失其寵家。
The Heavenly Emperor suspends his chariot; rites are abandoned, court audiences cease. Prayers for blessing are unregulated -- he loses his favored house.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rests within the lake, but the heavenly emperor has suspended his carriage. Ritual is abandoned and the court no longer assembles for audience. Prayers for blessing go unregulated; the favored household loses its standing. The image of a suspended celestial carriage suggests that heaven itself has withdrawn from governance — the cosmic order has paused, and without the regulating force of ritual, fortune dissipates. From Following to Dispersion, wind blows across water in Huan, scattering what was gathered. The verse enacts this dissolution: when the sovereign ceases to follow ritual protocol, the binding force that holds court and cosmos together unravels, and blessing — no longer channeled through proper ceremony — disperses into formlessness.
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