大畜 → 節
Hexagram 26: Great Taming → Hexagram 60: Limitation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).
Line 3
九三 良馬逐。利艱貞。曰閑輿衛。利有攸往。
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 5
六五 豶豕之牙。吉。
Six in the fifth place means: The tusk of a gelded boar. Good fortune.
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
三狗逐兔,子東北路。利以進取,商人有得。
Three hounds chase a hare, running the northeastern road. Favorable for advance and capture; the merchant finds his gain.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven stored within the mountain becomes water above the lake — Limitation. Three hounds chase a rabbit along the road to the northeast. The pursuit favors advance; merchants turn a profit. The verse is crisp and active: hounds pursuing quarry on a definite bearing, with the pursuit itself creating opportunity for trade. Limitation sets proper boundaries — water above the lake regulates the level, ensuring neither overflow nor drought. The three hounds represent focused, disciplined pursuit within defined limits. From Great Taming to Limitation, the mountain's stored power is channeled rather than hoarded. The northeast bearing gives direction; the hounds give chase within bounds. Accumulated reserves, properly limited and directed, become productive commerce.
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