坤 → 謙
Hexagram 2: The Receptive → Hexagram 15: Modesty
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 3).
Line 3
六三 含章可貞。或從王事。无成有終。
Six in the third place means: Hidden lines. One is able to remain persevering. If by chance you are in the service of a king, Seek not works, but bring to completion.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
修其翰翼，隨風向北。至虞夏國，與舜相得。年歲大樂，邑無盜賊。
Grooming its wings, following the wind northward. Reaching the realm of Yu and Xia, meeting Shun there. The year brings great happiness; in the town, no thieves or bandits.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth upon earth yields to earth above the mountain — Modesty. A bird trims its wings and follows the wind northward, arriving at the land of Yu and Xia, where it finds favor with Emperor Shun. The years bring great joy; villages are free of thieves. Shun, the sage-king who rose from the humblest origins — plowing at Mount Li, fishing at Thunder Lake — embodies Modesty's deepest meaning: the mountain hidden within the earth, greatness that does not announce itself. The bird's northward flight to Shun's court mirrors the worthy who seeks out virtuous governance. From the Receptive to Modesty, the earth enfolds the mountain rather than displaying it. Shun's realm prospers precisely because authority wears the garment of humility.
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