Hexagram 2: The Receptive → Hexagram 53: Development

The Receptive
Earth / Earth
Development
Wind / Mountain
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).

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 5

六五 黃裳。元吉。

huánggolden
chángdress
yuánmost
promising

Six in the fifth place means: A yellow lower garment brings supreme good fortune.

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 WindThe Receptive → The Gentle
Lower TrigramEarth MountainThe Receptive → Keeping Still

Yilin Verse

探懷得蚤,無有凶憂。所願失道,善居漸好。

Reaching into the robe, finding only a flea; yet no ill omen follows. What was wished for strays from the path, but a good dwelling gradually improves.

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

Commentary

Earth upon earth yields to wind above mountain — Development. One reaches into one's breast and finds a flea — no cause for alarm. What was hoped for has missed its mark, but dwelling in patience, things gradually improve. Wind atop the mountain, the image of Jian, depicts trees growing slowly on the mountainside — development by degrees, like the wild goose's measured approach. The verse begins with a small, comic relief: a flea discovered is merely a flea, not a crisis. The larger wish has gone astray, but the counsel is to stay put and let time work. From the Receptive to Development, the earth's instant availability becomes the mountain's slow, organic growth. Jian forbids rushing; what improves does so gradually, like a tree on a ridge exposed to steady wind.

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