无妄

Hexagram 25: Innocence → Hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake

无妄
Innocence
Heaven / Thunder
The Joyous Lake
Lake / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 2, 6).

Line 2

六二 不耕穫。不菑畬。則利有攸往。

when
gēngploughing
huòto
and when
clearing
in
then
worthwhile
yǒuto have
yōusomewhere
wǎngto go

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 6

上九 无妄。行有眚。无攸利。

even
wàngpretense
xíngbut
yǒubrings about
shěngsuffering
this is no
yōua direction
with merit

Nine at the top means: Innocent action brings misfortune. Nothing furthers.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramHeaven LakeThe Creative → The Joyous
Lower TrigramThunder LakeThe Arousing → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

持猬逢虎,患厭不起。遂至懽國,與福笑語,君王樂喜。

Holding a hedgehog, meeting a tiger; the terror will not abate. At last reaching the land of joy; speaking and laughing with fortune. The ruler delights in happiness.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Clutching a hedgehog, one encounters a tiger — and the tiger, intimidated by the spines, crouches down and cannot rise. The traveler then arrives at the Land of Joy, exchanging blessings and laughter with its people; the king himself delights. The hedgehog subduing the tiger recalls the Shiji's natural lore: 'The hedgehog can subdue the tiger.' From Innocence to The Joyous, the transformation shows how small, well-defended innocence disarms raw power and opens the way to pure celebration. Dui's paired lakes represent shared joy and mutual discourse. The tiger's defeat is not martial but structural — spines against claws, armor against force — and what follows is not conquest but a community of delight.

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