頤 → 蠱
Hexagram 27: Nourishment → Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3).
Line 1
初九 舍爾靈龜。觀我朶頤。凶。
Nine at the beginning means: You let your magic tortoise go, And look at me with the corners of your mouth drooping. Misfortune.
Line 2
六二 顛頤。拂經于丘。頤征凶。
Six in the second place means: Turning to the summit for nourishment, Deviating from the path To seek nourishment from the hill. Continuing to do this brings misfortune.
Line 3
六三 拂頤。貞凶。十年勿用。无攸利。
Six in the third place means: Turning away from nourishment. Perseverance brings misfortune. Do not act thus for ten years. Nothing serves to further.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
南歷玉山，東入生門。登福上堂，飲萬歲漿。
Journeying south past the Jade Mountain; entering the Gate of Life to the east. Ascending the Hall of Blessing; drinking the elixir of ten thousand years.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain over thunder shifts to mountain over wind — Work on the Decayed. The journey leads south past the Jade Mountain, east through the Gate of Life, ascending the Hall of Blessing to drink the Elixir of Ten Thousand Years. This is a vision of Daoist paradise: the Jade Mountain evokes Kunlun, the Gate of Life suggests rebirth, and the immortal elixir promises transcendence. From Nourishment to Work on the Decayed, the transformation is paradoxical. Gu signifies corruption that must be repaired, yet the verse shows its opposite — perfect nourishment culminating in immortality. The mountain remains above in both hexagrams, but wind replaces thunder, suggesting that what was once urgent appetite has refined into gentle, penetrating restoration.
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