隨 → 既濟
Hexagram 17: Following → Hexagram 63: After Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 3, 4).
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 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?
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
當年早寡，獨立孤居；雞鳴犬吠，無敢問諸。我生不遇，獨離寒苦。
Widowed young, dwelling alone in solitude; roosters crow, dogs bark, but no one dares ask after her. My fate has been unkind -- alone I endure cold and hardship.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rests within the lake, but a young widow stands alone. Widowed early, she dwells in solitude; roosters crow and dogs bark around the desolate homestead, yet no one dares inquire after her. Born into misfortune, she endures cold and hardship in isolation. The verse is raw elegy — no allusion softens the portrait of a woman abandoned by fate, her household reduced to animal sounds and human silence. From Following to After Completion, water above fire in Ji Ji achieves perfect balance — everything in its proper place. The bitter irony: the widow's world is 'complete' in the worst sense, every element of loss settled into final position. Completion here is not fulfillment but the crystallization of grief.
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