无妄 → 旅
Hexagram 25: Innocence → Hexagram 56: The Wanderer
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5).
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 4
九四 可貞。无咎。
Nine in the fourth place means: He who can be persevering Remains without blame.
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
偃武修文，兵革休安。清人逍遙，未歸空閑。
Setting aside arms, cultivating letters; weapons and war find peaceful rest. The men of Qing wander at ease; not yet returned, idling in leisure.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Weapons are laid down and civil culture is cultivated; arms and armor rest in peace. The soldiers of Qing wander at leisure, not yet returned home, idling without purpose. The verse directly references the Shijing ode 'Qing Ren,' which satirizes Gao Ke's garrison troops stationed at the Yellow River who drill and parade but never fight, eventually scattering without accomplishment. From Innocence to The Wanderer, the transformation captures the irony of purposeless travel. Lu's image of fire on the mountain illuminates briefly before moving on — the wanderer passes through without leaving roots. The idle soldiers embody this transience: armed for a purpose that never materializes, they become permanent wanderers, martial energy dissipated into aimless roaming.
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