蠱 → 損
Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed → Hexagram 41: Decrease
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 3).
Line 1
初六 幹父之蠱。有子。考无咎。厲終吉。
Six in the beginning means: Setting right what has been spoiled by the father. If there is a son, No blame rests upon the departed father. Danger. In the end good fortune.
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
弩弛弓藏，良犬不行；內無怨女，征夫在堂。
The crossbow unstrung, the bow put away; the fine hound does not roam. Within, no resentful woman; the conscripted husband is home in the hall.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind beneath the mountain lays down its weapons, and the transformation settles as the mountain above the lake — the voluntary sacrifice of Decrease. Crossbows are unstrung, bows stored away; the fine hunting dog no longer goes out. Within the house there are no resentful women; the campaigning husband stands in the hall. The imagery is one of demobilization and domestic reunion: war is over, weapons put away, the soldier returned to his wife. The 'resentful woman' and 'absent husband' echo the Shijing's soldier-wife laments. From Work on the Decayed to Decrease, restoration requires giving something up. The mountain diminishes to nourish the lake — military expenditure is reduced so that domestic life can flourish. Peace is purchased through willing reduction.
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