頤 → 節
Hexagram 27: Nourishment → Hexagram 60: Limitation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 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 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
文王四乳，仁愛篤厚。子畜十男，無有折夭。
King Wen with four nipples; his benevolence and love deep and generous. He reared ten sons; not one cut short or lost to early death.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain over thunder shifts to water over lake — Limitation, the hexagram of measured restraint. King Wen, born with four nipples — a sign of sagehood — governs with profound benevolence and generosity. He raises ten sons, and none dies young. According to the Shiji, King Wen's extraordinary physique was itself an omen of his vast capacity for nourishment: four nipples to feed a dynasty. Ten sons surviving infancy, in an era of devastating child mortality, represents nourishment perfected through moral virtue. From Nourishment to Limitation, the transformation channels abundance through proper measure: the water above the lake neither overflows nor runs dry. King Wen's four-nippled bounty exemplifies limitation's paradox — the most nourishing ruler is the one who sets the right boundaries.
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