坤 → 大壯
Hexagram 2: The Receptive → Hexagram 34: Great Power
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4).
Line 1
初六 履霜堅冰至。
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。
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。
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 4
六四 括囊。无咎无譽。
Six in the fourth place means: A tied-up sack. No blame, no praise.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
歲飢無年，虐政害民。乾溪驪山，秦楚結冤。
Famine year with no harvest; cruel governance harms the people. Qianxi, Lishan; Qin and Chu tie bitter grudges.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth upon earth transforms into thunder above heaven — Great Power. Years of famine and no harvest; tyrannical governance harms the people. Qianxi and Lishan: Qin and Chu are bound in grievance. Qianxi, where King Ling of Chu perished through hubris, and Lishan, site of Qin Shi Huang's excesses, are twin emblems of power turned to tyranny. Thunder above heaven, the image of Da Zhuang, warns the gentleman never to act contrary to propriety — precisely what these tyrants did. From the Receptive to Great Power, the earth that should nourish the people is instead exploited by rulers drunk on their own strength. Great Power misapplied becomes great destruction: the stronger the thunder, the more devastating its violence when unrestrained by moral limits.
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