噬嗑 → 觀
Hexagram 21: Biting Through → Hexagram 20: Contemplation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5).
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 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.
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
禍走患伏，喜為我福；凶惡消亡，災害不作。
Calamity flees, misfortune hides; joy becomes my blessing. Evil and malice vanish away; disaster does not arise.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire and thunder once enforced the law through biting force, and now their work is done: misfortune flees, calamity lies subdued. Joy becomes one's personal blessing; all malicious forces dissolve, and disasters cease to stir. The verse reads as an all-clear signal after a period of danger, every threat neutralized, every shadow dispersed. From Biting Through to Contemplation, wind moves over the earth as the sage surveys the land. The transformation marks the shift from active enforcement to reflective observation — punishment has served its purpose, and now the ruler need only observe the people with a calm, clarified gaze. The land is at peace because justice has already been done.
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