噬嗑 → 蠱
Hexagram 21: Biting Through → Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4).
Line 1
初九 履校滅趾。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: His feet are fastened in the stocks, So that his toes disappear. No blame.
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 3
六三 噬腊肉。遇毒。小吝。无咎。
Six in the third place means: Bites on old dried meat And strikes on something poisonous. Slight humiliation. No blame.
Line 4
九四 噬乾胏。得金矢。利艱貞。吉。
Nine in the fourth place means: Bites on dried gristly meat. Receives metal arrows. It furthers one to be mindful of difficulties And to be persevering. Good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
蜎飛蠢動，各有配偶；小大相保，咸得其所。
Wriggling insects and creeping creatures, each has its mate; small and great protect one another -- all find their proper place.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire and thunder clear away obstructions, revealing nature's fundamental order. Flying insects and crawling creatures each find their mates; great and small shelter one another, all settling into their proper places. The verse celebrates the innate harmony of the natural world — even the humblest worm has its pair, and mutual protection operates across all scales of being. From Biting Through to Work on the Decayed, wind moves beneath the mountain, stirring what has stagnated. The transformation suggests that once corruption is bitten through and cleared, the natural pairing and sheltering instincts of living things reassert themselves. Renewal begins with the simplest bonds.
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