大畜

Hexagram 2: The Receptive → Hexagram 26: Great Taming

The Receptive
Earth / Earth
大畜
Great Taming
Mountain / Heaven
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 2

六二 直方大。不習无不利。

zhístraightforward
fāngsquare
complete
without
practice
without
doubt
worthwhile

Six in the second place means: Straight, square, great. Without purpose, Yet nothing remains unfurthered.

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 HeavenThe Receptive → The Creative

Yilin Verse

典冊法書,藏在蘭臺。雖遭亂潰,獨不遇災。

Canons, records, and legal texts, stored in the Orchid Terrace. Though chaos and ruin beset the land, alone they do not meet with disaster.

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

Commentary

Earth upon earth transforms into mountain above heaven — Great Taming. Canonical texts and legal documents are stored in the Orchid Terrace. Though turmoil and collapse engulf the world, these alone escape disaster. The Orchid Terrace (Lantai) was the Han dynasty imperial archive, housing the realm's most precious records. Mountain above heaven, the image of Da Xu, shows heaven's vast energy tamed and stored within the mountain — the gentleman accumulates knowledge of past words and deeds to cultivate virtue. From the Receptive to Great Taming, the earth's passive holding becomes the mountain's deliberate preservation. When civilization crumbles, what survives is what was consciously archived. The verse celebrates the power of intentional accumulation: amid universal ruin, the treasured texts endure because someone chose to store them well.

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