噬嗑 → 訟
Hexagram 21: Biting Through → Hexagram 6: Conflict
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 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
大蛇巨魚，戰於國郊；上下隔塞，衛侯廬曹。
A great serpent and a monstrous fish battle in the kingdom's outskirts; above and below are cut off -- the Marquis of Wei encamps at Cao.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire and thunder crack through the law, and in this verse monstrous forces clash at the capital's edge. A great serpent and a giant fish battle in the city's outskirts — primordial chaos erupting where order should reign. Communication between high and low is severed, the realm blockaded. The verse closes with 'the Duke of Wei shelters at Cao,' evoking the Spring and Autumn pattern of exiled rulers fleeing to minor states when their own domains collapse. From Biting Through to Conflict, heaven and water move in opposite directions. The enforcement mechanism has broken down entirely: instead of justice biting through disorder, disorder has overwhelmed the system, and those who should govern are reduced to refugees.
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