剝 → 解
Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart → Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4).
Line 2
六二 剝牀以辨。蔑貞凶。
Six in the second place means: The bed is split at the edge. Those who persevere are destroyed. Misfortune.
Line 3
六三 剝之无咎。
Six in the third place means: He splits with them. No blame.
Line 4
六四 剝牀以膚。凶。
Six in the fourth place means: The bed is split up to the skin. Misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
四馬共轅，東上泰山。騂驤同力，無有重難。與君笑言。
Four horses share one yoke, east and up to Mount Tai. Red steeds strain with united strength; no burden is too heavy. Together we laugh and jest.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain upon earth strips away, and thunder and rain arrive together — Deliverance, the release of tension after crisis. Four horses share one yoke, climbing eastward to Mount Tai. The fine steeds pull as one, meeting no heavy obstacles. Lord and companion laugh and converse. Mount Tai, the eastern sacred mountain, is the site of imperial feng-shan sacrifices — the highest ritual affirmation of a ruler's mandate. Four horses pulling in harmony up this sacred slope represents coordinated power ascending toward heaven's recognition. From Splitting Apart to Deliverance, the mountain that was collapsing is replaced by the mountain that is climbed in triumph. Thunder and rain clear the air; what was stuck is freed. The laughter between ruler and minister signals the ease that follows liberation — hardship dissolved, the road ahead open.
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