无妄 → 萃
Hexagram 25: Innocence → Hexagram 45: Gathering Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 6).
Line 1
初九 无妄。往吉。
Nine at the beginning means: Innocent behavior brings good fortune.
Line 6
上九 无妄。行有眚。无攸利。
Nine at the top means: Innocent action brings misfortune. Nothing furthers.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
三人輦車，乘入旁家。王母貪叨，盜我資財。亡失犁牛。
Three men push a cart; entering the neighbor's house. The old woman is greedy and grasping; stealing our goods and wealth. Lost too is the plow ox.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Three men push a handcart and enter a neighbor's house. An old woman — greedy and grasping — steals the household's goods. The plow-ox is lost. From Innocence to Gathering, the transformation twists community into predation. Cui's image of the lake gathering upon the earth should represent people coming together for shared purpose — the gentleman prepares arms and guards against the unexpected. Yet here the gathering produces theft: those who arrive take rather than contribute, and the essential working animal disappears. The verse warns that Wuwang's openness creates vulnerability: when innocence lacks discernment, gathering becomes an invitation for the unscrupulous to take what they will.
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