剝 → 歸妹
Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart → Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4).
Line 1
初六 剝牀以足。蔑貞凶。
Six at the beginning means: The leg of the bed is split. Those who persevere are destroyed. Misfortune.
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
二人俱行，別離特食。一身五心，亂無所得。
Two men travel together, then part to eat apart. One body, five minds; chaos yields nothing gained.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain upon earth strips away, and thunder stirs above the lake — the Marrying Maiden, a union made from a position of weakness. Two people walk together but part to eat separately. One body harbors five conflicting hearts; chaos yields nothing. The companionship is formal but the communion is absent — they travel the same road yet cannot share a meal. The 'five hearts in one body' is a vivid image of internal fragmentation: loyalties split so many ways that no coherent action is possible. From Splitting Apart to the Marrying Maiden, the mountain's decay exposes the vulnerability of dependent relationships. The Marrying Maiden enters a household where she holds no power; these two travelers embody that asymmetry. Forced togetherness without genuine union produces only confusion and mutual incomprehension.
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