噬嗑 → 大過
Hexagram 21: Biting Through → Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 6).
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 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.
Line 6
上九 何校滅耳。凶。
Nine at the top means: His neck is fastened in the wooden cangue, So that his ears disappear. Misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
奇適無偶，習靖獨處；所願不從，心思勞苦。
Odd without a match, accustomed to quiet and dwelling alone; one's wishes go unfollowed -- the heart labors in bitter longing.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire and thunder enforce order, but here the verse speaks of an unmatched soul dwelling alone. An odd piece without its pair settles into quiet solitude. Desires go unfulfilled, and the heart labors in bitter thought. The word 'odd' (奇) means 'without complement' — a single chopstick, a solitary shoe. The verse captures the ache of incompleteness, not dramatic tragedy but the slow erosion of hope. From Biting Through to Great Exceeding, the lake submerges the trees below it — a structure overwhelmed. The solitary figure bears a weight too great for one person, the ridgepole sagging under a burden meant for two. Excess without partnership becomes unbearable strain.
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