賁 → 臨
Hexagram 22: Grace → Hexagram 19: Approach
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 6).
Line 2
六二 賁其須。
Six in the second place means: Lends grace to the beard on his chin.
Line 3
九三 賁如濡如。永貞吉。
Nine in the third place means: Graceful and moist. Constant perseverance brings good fortune.
Line 6
上九 白賁。无咎。
Nine at the top means: Simple grace. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
老楊日衰，條多枯枝。爵級不進，逐下摧隤。
The old willow daily declines; its branches grow many dead limbs. Rank and title advance no further; one is driven down and brought low.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire beneath the mountain illuminates an aging tree. An old poplar declines day by day, its branches mostly withered and bare. Official rank stalls without advancement, and one is pushed downward into ruin. The poplar's slow decay mirrors the bureaucrat's stalled career — both were once vital, now desiccating beyond recovery. From Grace to Approach, the lake rises beneath the earth, suggesting expansive authority drawing near. Yet the verse offers no such promise: the approach here is approach of decline. The irony deepens the warning — when adornment (Grace) meets the power of Approach without substance to sustain it, the result is not elevation but exposure of one's withered state.
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