頤 → 蒙
Hexagram 27: Nourishment → Hexagram 4: Youthful Folly
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 2).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
秋南春北,隨時休息。處和履中,安無憂凶。
South in autumn, north in spring; resting according to the season. Dwelling in harmony, treading the mean; peaceful, without worry or misfortune.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain over thunder yields to mountain over water, the spring emerging below. Geese migrate south in autumn and north in spring, following the seasons' rhythm without deviation. Dwelling in harmony and treading the middle way, one rests secure without worry or misfortune. The verse reads like a Yilin proverb on timing: creatures that follow natural cycles avoid disaster. From Nourishment to Youthful Folly, the transformation suggests that true nourishment is itself a form of education. The mountain remains above in both hexagrams, but where thunder once stirred appetite, water now springs forth as innate understanding. To nourish correctly is to learn the Way instinctively.
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