Hexagram 19: Approach → Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart

Approach
Earth / Lake
Splitting Apart
Mountain / Earth
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 6).

Line 1

初九 咸臨貞吉。

xiánunited
líntaking charge
zhēnpersistence
promising

Nine at the beginning means: Joint approach. Perseverance brings good fortune.

Line 2

九二 咸臨吉。无不利。

xiánunited
líntaking charge
promising
without
doubt
worthwhile

Nine in the second place means: Joint approach. Good fortune. Everything furthers.

Line 6

上六 敦臨。吉。无咎。

dūnauthentic
líntaking charge
promising
no
jiùis wrong

Six at the top means: Greathearted approach. Good fortune. No blame.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramEarth MountainThe Receptive → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramLake EarthThe Joyous → The Receptive

Yilin Verse

壽如松喬,與日月俱;常安康樂,不見禍憂。

Long-lived as Song and Qiao, enduring alongside sun and moon; ever at peace and in good health, never seeing misfortune or worry.

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

Commentary

Earth above the lake meets the mountain resting upon earth — Splitting Apart's quiet erosion. Yet the verse defies the hexagram's usual foreboding: 'Long-lived as Chisongzi and Wang Qiao, enduring together with sun and moon, always at peace and in good health, never glimpsing sorrow or misfortune.' The Daoist immortals Song Qiao represent transcendence beyond temporal decay. From Approach to Splitting Apart, the mountain's slow erosion threatens all structures — but the immortals exist outside structure entirely. Their longevity is not resistance to stripping away but freedom from it. The verse offers a radical consolation: when everything around you crumbles, the one who has already released attachment to form persists untouched.

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