蠱 → 大過
Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed → Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 4, 5, 6).
Line 4
六四 裕父之蠱。往見吝。
Six in the fourth place means: Tolerating what has been spoiled by the father. In continuing one sees humiliation.
Line 5
六五 幹父之蠱。用譽。
Six in the fifth place means: Setting right what has been spoiled by the father. One meets with praise.
Line 6
上九 不事王侯。高尚其事。
Nine at the top means: He does not serve kings and princes, Sets himself higher goals.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
旦雨夜行，早遍辟城；更相覆傾，終無所成。
Rain at dawn, traveling by night; hastening to circle the city at daybreak. Overthrowing each other in turn -- in the end, nothing is achieved.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind beneath the mountain drives travelers into the storm, and the transformation overwhelms as the lake submerges the trees — Great Exceeding's critical mass. Morning rain, night marching — all day spent skirting the city walls. Each effort overturns the last; nothing reaches completion. The relentless cycle of rain and forced travel suggests a campaign doomed to futility: every advance is reversed, every shelter abandoned. From Work on the Decayed to Great Exceeding, the structural crisis reaches its limit. The ridgepole sags — excess weight on a weakened frame threatens total collapse. Yet the hexagram counsels independent courage: those who stand alone without fear may find in the crisis itself the impetus for extraordinary action.
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