噬嗑 → 履
Hexagram 21: Biting Through → Hexagram 10: Treading
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 2, 5).
Line 2
六二 噬膚滅鼻。无咎。
Six in the second place means: Bites through tender meat, So that his nose disappears. No blame.
Line 5
六五 噬乾肉。得黃金。貞厲。无咎。
Six in the fifth place means: Bites on dried lean meat. Receives yellow gold. Perseveringly aware of danger. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
狼虎所嘷，患害必遭；不利有為，宜以遁逃。
Where wolves and tigers howl, harm and danger surely come; nothing profits action here -- best to flee and escape.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire and thunder deliver punishment, and here that punitive energy manifests as predatory threat. Wolves howl and tigers roar — calamity and harm are inescapable in such a place. It is not advantageous to act; the only wise course is flight. The verse is stark and unambiguous: this is territory controlled by predators, and the traveler has no advantage. From Biting Through to Treading, the transformation reveals its danger. Treading on the tiger's tail, one must be exquisitely careful or be devoured. The verse counsels not courage but retreat — recognizing when the ground itself is hostile and withdrawing before the jaws close.
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