噬嗑 → 師
Hexagram 21: Biting Through → Hexagram 7: The Army
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 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 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 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
龍入天關，經歷九山。登高上下，道里險難；日晏不食，絕無甘酸。
The dragon enters the Heavenly Gate, traversing nine mountains; climbing high, ascending and descending -- the road is steep and perilous. Day wanes with no food; utterly without sweet or sour.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire and thunder enforce the law, yet the dragon's journey through heaven's gate leads only to hardship. It traverses nine mountains, climbing and descending treacherous peaks. The road is perilous and steep, and by evening there is nothing to eat — not even a trace of sweet or sour. The dragon, symbol of sovereign power, enters the celestial pass but finds no sustenance, only exhaustion. From Biting Through to The Army, the transformation reveals disciplined endurance under deprivation. Water hidden within the earth marshals its forces silently. The verse captures the army's grim reality: the march through hostile terrain where glory is replaced by hunger and the road offers no relief.
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