无妄 → 鼎
Hexagram 25: Innocence → Hexagram 50: The Cauldron
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 5).
Line 1
初九 无妄。往吉。
Nine at the beginning means: Innocent behavior brings good fortune.
Line 2
六二 不耕穫。不菑畬。則利有攸往。
Six in the second place means: If one does not count on the harvest while plowing, Nor on the use of the ground while clearing it, It furthers one to undertake something.
Line 3
六三 无妄之災。或繫之牛。行人之得。邑人之災。
Six in the third place means: Undeserved misfortune. The cow that was tethered by someone Is the wanderer's gain, the citizen's loss.
Line 5
九五 无妄之疾。勿藥有喜。
Nine in the fifth place means: Use no medicine in an illness Incurred through no fault of your own. It will pass of itself.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
口方緩唇，為和樞門。解釋鉤帶，商旅以歡。
A gentle mouth, relaxed lips; serving as the harmonious pivot of the gate. Loosening hooks and sashes; merchants and travelers rejoice.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A wide mouth with relaxed lips serves as the harmonious pivot of the gate — the mediator who smooths all passage. Loosening hooks and unbuckling belts, the merchants celebrate with ease. From Innocence to The Cauldron, the transformation follows speech refined into diplomatic art. Ding's image of fire above wood — cooking, transforming raw into refined — represents the ritual vessel that mediates between human and divine. The relaxed mouth becomes the cauldron's opening: words poured in with the right mixture produce harmony. The merchants' relief mirrors the cauldron's function of blending disparate ingredients into nourishment. When innocence is tempered by articulate skill, it becomes the vessel through which all transactions find their proper resolution.
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