大畜歸妹

Hexagram 26: Great Taming → Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden

大畜
Great Taming
Mountain / Heaven
歸妹
The Marrying Maiden
Thunder / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 6).

Line 3

九三 良馬逐。利艱貞。曰閑輿衛。利有攸往。

liánga fine
horse
zhúgives chase
worth
jiāndifficult
zhēnpersistence
daily
xiántraining
輿in
wèiand
worthwhile
yǒuto have
yōusomewhere
wǎngto go

Nine in the third place means. A good horse that follows others. Awareness of danger, With perseverance, furthers. Practice chariot driving and armed defense daily. It furthers one to have somewhere to go.

Line 4

六四 童牛之牿。元吉。

tóngthe young
niúbull
zhī...'s
a pen
yuánmost
promising

Six in the fourth place means: The headboard of a young bull. Great good fortune.

Line 6

上九 何天之衢。亨。

what
tiānheaven
zhī...'s
way
hēngthrough fulfillment

Nine at the top means: One attains the way of heaven. Success.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramMountain ThunderKeeping Still → The Arousing
Lower TrigramHeaven LakeThe Creative → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

倉庫盈億,年歲有息。商人留連,雖久有得。陰多陽少。因地就力。

Granaries brim with a hundred million; year after year there is increase. The merchant lingers long; though slow, there is gain at last. Yin exceeds yang. Working with the terrain, one draws on its strength.

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

Commentary

Heaven stored within the mountain becomes thunder above the lake — the Marrying Maiden. Granaries and storehouses overflow with wealth; the yearly harvest brings interest upon interest. Merchants linger and delay, but even so they eventually profit. Yin exceeds yang; one works with what the terrain provides. The verse presents the steady accumulation of agricultural wealth — reserves that grow through patient waiting rather than active pursuit. The Marrying Maiden suggests subordination: the younger sister given in marriage follows behind the elder. From Great Taming to the Marrying Maiden, the mountain's stored heaven becomes the lake's submission to thunder. Abundance is achieved not through bold initiative but through quiet accommodation — working with existing conditions, accepting a subordinate position, and letting time do the rest.

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