小畜

Hexagram 20: Contemplation → Hexagram 9: Small Taming

Contemplation
Wind / Earth
小畜
Small Taming
Wind / Heaven
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3).

Line 1

初六 童觀。小人无咎。君子吝。

tóngchild's
guānperspective
xiǎofor little
rénpeople
no
jiùblame
jūnbut for a noble
young one
lìnan embarrassment

Six at the beginning means: Boy like contemplation. For an inferior man, no blame. For a superior man, humiliation.

Line 2

六二 闚觀。利女貞。

kuīa pry
guānperspective
reward
a young lady
zhēnpersistence

Six in the second place means: Contemplation through the crack of the door. Furthering for the perseverance of a woman.

Line 3

六三 觀我生進退。

guānperceiving
our
shēnglives
jìnas
退tuìand

Six in the third place means: Contemplation of my life Decides the choice Between advance and retreat.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWind Wind
Lower TrigramEarth HeavenThe Receptive → The Creative

Yilin Verse

三子成駒,破其堅車;輪載空輿,後時失期。

Three colts become stallions and shatter the stout cart; wheels carry an empty carriage -- the hour is missed, the deadline lost.

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

Commentary

Wind over earth observes the ruin of a vehicle. Three colts grow unruly and shatter the sturdy cart; now only bare wheels carry an empty carriage, arriving too late and missing its appointment. The verse captures the folly of entrusting power to those not yet trained to bear it. Young horses, full of raw energy but lacking discipline, destroy the very conveyance they should serve. Wind above heaven in Small Taming gently restrains creative force without breaking it. From Contemplation to Small Taming, observation reveals that strength must be tempered gradually. Unbridled vigor wrecks the structure it inhabits, and the missed deadline cannot be recovered.

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