无妄 → 未濟
Hexagram 25: Innocence → Hexagram 64: Before Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 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
龍興之德，周武受福。長女宜家，與君相保。長股遠行，狸且善藏。
The dragon rises with virtue; King Wu of Zhou receives blessing. The eldest daughter keeps the household; together with her lord they are secure. Long-shanked, he journeys far; the fox is cunning and hides well.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
The dragon rises with virtue — King Wu of Zhou receives heaven's blessing. The eldest daughter governs the household well, and she and her lord protect one another. Long legs travel far, and the fox-cat is skilled at concealment. From Innocence to Before Completion, the transformation points toward a future still unfolding. Weiji's image of fire above water — the two elements not yet in their proper positions — represents potential on the verge of realization. King Wu's dragon-virtue and his reception of heaven's mandate echo the founding of the Zhou dynasty, yet the verse ends not with triumph but with the fox's cunning concealment and the journey still underway. Even with divine sanction, completion has not yet arrived; the wise remain agile and alert.
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