Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed → Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind

Work on the Decayed
Mountain / Wind
The Gentle Wind
Wind / Wind
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 5).

Line 5

六五 幹父之蠱。用譽。

gàncorrect
father
zhī's
fixations
yònguse
praise

Six in the fifth place means: Setting right what has been spoiled by the father. One meets with praise.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramMountain WindKeeping Still → The Gentle
Lower TrigramWind Wind

Yilin Verse

重驛置之,來除我憂;與喜俱居,同其福休。

Relay couriers deliver the message, removing my worry; dwelling together with joy, sharing in fortune and repose.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Wind beneath the mountain dispatches relay riders, and the transformation doubles into wind upon wind — the penetrating persistence of the Gentle. Relay stations placed in succession bring word that dispels our worry. Dwelling together with joy, sharing in its blessings and rest. The postal relay system — stations at regular intervals where riders exchange horses to speed dispatches — embodies the gentle, persistent communication that dissolves anxiety. Good news arrives not in a single thunderclap but through steady, reliable channels. From Work on the Decayed to the Gentle, the corrective is sustained, penetrating influence rather than dramatic intervention. Doubled wind enters every crack, carrying its message into the deepest recesses of what has been spoiled.

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