隨 → 中孚
Hexagram 17: Following → Hexagram 61: Inner Truth
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 6).
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
勾踐之危，棲於會稽；太宰機言，越國復存。
Goujian in his peril, besieged at Mount Kuaiji; the Grand Steward spoke with cunning -- the state of Yue was preserved.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rests within the lake, and King Goujian of Yue faces mortal peril, cornered at Mount Kuaiji after his catastrophic defeat by Wu. Yet the Grand Steward — likely referring to Bo Pi, the corrupt Wu minister bribed by Yue's envoy Wen Zhong — speaks the pivotal words that allow Yue's survival. Through a mixture of diplomacy and deception, the state of Yue is preserved from annihilation. From Following to Inner Truth, wind upon the lake in Zhong Fu moves what floats through sincerity's invisible influence. The paradox is rich: Goujian's survival depended on manipulative rhetoric aimed at a venal official, yet the deeper truth was Yue's genuine will to endure. Inner Truth sometimes wears the mask of expedient speech when survival itself is at stake.
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