坤 → 鼎
Hexagram 2: The Receptive → Hexagram 50: The Cauldron
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 6).
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.
Line 6
上六 龍戰于野。其血玄黃。
Six at the top means: Dragons fight in the meadow. Their blood is black and yellow.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
望尚阿衡，太宰國公。藩屏輔弼，福祿來同。
Hoping for the Grand Protector; Grand Minister, Duke of State. Screen and shield, support and aide; blessings and fortune come together.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth upon earth transforms into fire above wind — the Cauldron. One looks up to the great counselor Aheng, Grand Steward and Duke of the realm. He serves as bulwark and assistant to the throne; blessings and prosperity arrive together. Aheng is the title of Yi Yin, the sage minister who helped King Tang of Shang overthrow the tyrant Jie — originally a cook from the land of Youshen who rose to become chief minister. Fire above wind, the image of Ding, represents the ritual cauldron — the vessel of transformation where raw materials are cooked into nourishment, and where talents are refined into statesmen. From the Receptive to the Cauldron, the earth's raw produce enters the transformative vessel. Yi Yin, the cook-turned-chancellor, is the Cauldron's perfect avatar: humble origins, supreme refinement, and the alchemy of governance that turns good ingredients into a well-ordered state.
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