Hexagram 2: The Receptive → Hexagram 22: Grace

The Receptive
Earth / Earth
Grace
Mountain / Fire
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

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

Line 1

初六 履霜堅冰至。

footsteps
shuāngfrost
jiānsolid
bīngice
zhìresults

Six at the beginning means: When there is hoarfrost underfoot, Solid ice is not far off.

Line 3

六三 含章可貞。或從王事。无成有終。

hánrestrain
zhāngdisplay
suited
zhēnpersistence
huòsomeone
cóngpursuing
wángsovereign
shìaffairs
no
chéngachievement
yǒuhas
zhōngclosure

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.

Line 6

上六 龍戰于野。其血玄黃。

lóngdragons
zhànat war
in
wilds
their
xuèblood
xuánindigo
huánggolden

Six at the top means: Dragons fight in the meadow. Their blood is black and yellow.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramEarth MountainThe Receptive → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramEarth FireThe Receptive → The Clinging

Yilin Verse

三人異趣,反覆迷惑。一身五心,亂無所得。

Three men with different aims; going back and forth in confusion. One body with five hearts; disordered, nothing is gained.

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

Commentary

Earth upon earth transforms into mountain above fire — Grace. Three people pursue different interests, wavering back and forth in confusion. One body harbors five minds, and in the chaos nothing is achieved. Mountain above fire, the image of Bi, shows fire illuminating the mountain's base — beauty and adornment, but also the danger of mere surface. The verse depicts the opposite of grace: internal division so extreme that no coherent action is possible. Three people pulling in three directions, or one person with five contradictory inclinations, produce only paralysis. From the Receptive to Grace, the earth's undifferentiated receptivity must crystallize into aesthetic form, but when too many impulses compete for expression, the result is not refinement but fragmentation.

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