頤 → 需
Hexagram 27: Nourishment → Hexagram 5: Waiting
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5, 6).
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.
Line 5
六五 拂經。居貞吉。不可涉大川。
Six in the fifth place means: Turning away from the path. To remain persevering brings good fortune. One should not cross the great water.
Line 6
上九 由頤。厲吉。利涉大川。
Nine at the top means: The source of nourishment. Awareness of danger brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
履危無患，跳脫獨全。不利出門，傷我左踝。疾病不食，鬼哭其室。
Treading danger without calamity; leaping free, alone preserved. Ill-favored to go out the door; my left ankle is injured. Illness keeps one from eating; ghosts weep within the chamber.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain over thunder shifts to water suspended above heaven, the posture of waiting. The verse divides sharply: first, one treads danger yet escapes harm, leaping free and surviving alone. Then the scene darkens. It is not auspicious to go out; the left ankle is injured. Illness robs the appetite, and ghosts wail in the household. The left ankle — the body's foundation for stepping forward — is struck, halting all movement. From Nourishment to Waiting, the transformation captures the tension between action and restraint. Nourishment misapplied becomes poisonous, and the one who should wait at home ventures out too soon, inviting both physical injury and spiritual affliction.
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