Hexagram 17: Following → Hexagram 60: Limitation

Following
Lake / Thunder
Limitation
Water / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 2, 4).

Line 2

六二 係小子。失丈夫。

attached
xiǎoa little
child
shīlosing
zhàngthe senior
gentleman

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。

suífollow
yǒuhas
huòsuccess
zhēnpersistence
xiōngunfortunate
yǒube
true
zàion
dàoa way
in order to be
míngclear
where is
jiùthe blame

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?

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramLake WaterThe Joyous → The Deep
Lower TrigramThunder LakeThe Arousing → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

交川合浦,遠濕難處;水土不同,思吾皇祖。

Where rivers cross and shores converge, the far-off wetlands are hard to dwell in; water and soil are unfamiliar -- I long for my imperial ancestors.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Thunder rests within the lake, and the exile finds himself where rivers merge and coasts converge. The land is wet, remote, and difficult to inhabit; water and soil are alien to what he knows. In his displacement, he thinks longingly of his imperial ancestors — the homeland from which he has been severed. The verse echoes the Shijing's 'Yellow Bird' exile lament: a stranger in a hostile land, yearning for home. From Following to Limitation, water above the lake in Jie establishes boundaries and measures. The exile's suffering comes precisely from crossing beyond his natural limits — following circumstance into a territory where his roots cannot take hold. Jie counsels knowing one's proper boundaries; this verse shows the pain of having transgressed them.

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