大畜 → 泰
Hexagram 26: Great Taming → Hexagram 11: Peace
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 6).
Line 6
上九 何天之衢。亨。
Nine at the top means: One attains the way of heaven. Success.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
虎臥山隅，鹿過後朐。弓矢設張，會為功曹。伏不敢起，遂全其軀，得我美草。
The tiger lies in the mountain's corner; a deer passes behind the ridge. Bows and arrows are drawn and set; it takes its post as merit officer. Crouching, it dares not rise, and so preserves its body whole; it finds its sweet grass.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven stored within the mountain opens into the free exchange of Peace — earth above, heaven below, all things in communion. A tiger crouches at the mountain's edge while a deer passes behind it. Bows are drawn and arrows set, and the hedgehog serves as Chief Clerk, keeping the tiger pinned to the ground. The tiger dares not rise, and so preserves its life, finding sweet grass at last. The 'hedgehog as Gongcao' — drawn from Han dynasty natural lore — represents the small but formidable functionary who controls raw power through bureaucratic authority. From Great Taming to Peace, accumulated force is not unleashed but administered. The tiger survives precisely because the system restrains it; peace emerges not from the absence of predators but from their proper governance.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store