噬嗑 → 小畜
Hexagram 21: Biting Through → Hexagram 9: Small Taming
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5).
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.
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
關折門啟，衿帶解墮；福與善坐，憂不為禍。
The bolt breaks, the gate swings open; sash and collar loosen and fall. Blessing sits with the good; worry does not turn to calamity.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire and thunder once enforced strict barriers, but now the bolt snaps and the gate swings open. Sashes and belt-knots loosen and fall away — all formal constraint dissolves. Yet this release brings not chaos but blessing: fortune sits down beside the good, and worry never turns to disaster. The imagery of unlatched gates and loosened garments suggests a transition from rigid control to natural ease, the moment when vigilance is no longer necessary. From Biting Through to Small Taming, wind moves gently over heaven, refining rather than compelling. The harsh teeth of enforcement give way to the soft cultivation of virtue through culture and civility.
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