蠱 → 解
Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed → Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 6).
Line 3
九三 幹父之蠱。小有悔。无大咎。
Nine in the third place means: Setting right what has been spoiled by the father. There will be a little remorse. No great blame.
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 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
鳥反故巢，歸其室家。心平意正，與叔相和。登高殞墜，失其寵貴。
The bird returns to its old nest, coming home to its household. Heart calm, intent correct, reconciled with kin. Climbing high, one falls -- losing favor and rank.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind beneath the mountain sends the bird home, and the transformation breaks as thunder over water — the liberating relief of Deliverance. A bird returns to its old nest, coming back to its household. Heart calm and mind upright, one reconciles with one's uncle. But then — climbing high and plunging down, losing one's favor and position. The verse traces a complete arc: homecoming, reconciliation, then catastrophic fall. The domestic reunion proves unstable; the height gained becomes the distance of the fall. From Work on the Decayed to Deliverance, relief comes as thunder and rain clearing the air, but one must act swiftly on the opening. Those who linger too long at the summit after deliverance risk a reversal far worse than the original trouble.
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