隨 → 師
Hexagram 17: Following → Hexagram 7: The Army
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5).
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 5
九五 孚于嘉。吉。
Nine in the fifth place means: Sincere in the good. Good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
齎貝贖狸，不聽我辭。繫於虎鬚，牽不得來。
Bringing cowrie shells to ransom a wildcat, it will not heed my words. Tied to the tiger whiskers, it cannot be pulled free.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rests within the lake, but a ransom goes wrong. Someone offers cowrie shells to redeem a wildcat, yet the other party will not heed the plea. The creature is bound by the tiger's whiskers — tugging at it accomplishes nothing. One cannot negotiate with overwhelming power on trivial terms: offering small currency for something entangled with a predator's very bristles is futile. The verse warns against mismatched effort and immovable force. From Following to the Army, the transformation clarifies the lesson: what gentle persuasion cannot retrieve, disciplined collective force may secure. Sui's adaptive following must give way to Shi's marshaled authority when the adversary is beyond bargaining.
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