蠱 → 艮
Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed → Hexagram 52: Keeping Still Mountain
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 2).
Line 2
九二 幹母之蠱。不可貞。
Nine in the second place means: Setting right what has been spoiled by the mother. One must not be too persevering.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
天之所壞，不可強支；眾口嘈嘈，雖貴必危。
What heaven would bring down, none can prop up by force; when a multitude of mouths clamor, even the noble are imperiled.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind beneath the mountain meets heaven's judgment, and the transformation freezes into the doubled mountain — the immovable stillness of Keeping Still. What heaven has ordained to fall cannot be propped up by force. Voices clamor and crowd; even the exalted are endangered. The verse delivers a stark verdict: when the cosmic order has condemned a structure, human effort to shore it up is futile. The clamoring crowd — public opinion turned hostile — compounds the danger even for those in high position. From Work on the Decayed to Keeping Still, the counsel is to stop. Doubled mountains think not beyond their position. When the mandate is withdrawn, the only wisdom is to cease striving and accept what cannot be changed.
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