臨 → 乾
Hexagram 19: Approach → Hexagram 1: The Creative
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 3
六三 甘臨。无攸利。既憂之。无咎。
Six in the third place means: Comfortable approach. Nothing that would further. If one is induced to grieve over it, One becomes free of blame.
Line 4
六四 至臨。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: Complete approach. No blame.
Line 5
六五 知臨。大君之宜。吉。
Six in the fifth place means: Wise approach. This is right for a great prince. Good fortune.
Line 6
上六 敦臨。吉。无咎。
Six at the top means: Greathearted approach. Good fortune. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
黃獹生馬，白戌為母。晉師在郊，虞公出走。
A yellow bitch bears a horse; a white hound serves as mother. The Jin army at the border -- the Duke of Yu flees.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth above the lake approaches heaven's pure creative force. The verse opens with bizarre portents — a yellow hound birthing a horse, a white dog serving as its dam — images of categorical confusion where species boundaries dissolve. Then the scene sharpens: Jin's army stands at the border, and the Duke of Yu flees. This alludes to Jin's destruction of Yu in 655 BC. Duke Xian of Jin bribed Yu's duke with horses and jade to borrow passage for attacking Guo. Counselor Gong Zhiqi warned that 'when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold,' but the greedy duke ignored him. Jin destroyed Guo, then swallowed Yu on the return march. From Approach to the Creative, the pattern warns: when natural categories are violated — dogs birthing horses, trust betrayed for trinkets — even heaven's self-generating power cannot save the reckless.
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