頤 → 未濟
Hexagram 27: Nourishment → Hexagram 64: Before Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4).
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 4
六四 顛頤。吉。虎視眈眈。其欲逐逐。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: Turning to the summit For provision of nourishment Brings good fortune. Spying about with sharp eyes Like a tiger with insatiable craving. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
順風直北，與歡相得。歲熟年樂，邑無寇賊。長女行嫁，子孫不昌，係疾為殃。
A fair wind blows due north; meeting joy, finding accord. The harvest ripens, the year is happy; the town has no bandits or thieves. The eldest daughter goes to marry; descendants will not flourish — bound illness becomes calamity.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain over thunder yields to fire over water — Before Completion, the final hexagram where nothing has yet settled into place. Riding the favorable wind straight north, one meets with pleasure and delight. The harvest is ripe, the year is joyful, and the settlement knows no bandits. Then the verse darkens without transition: the eldest daughter goes to be married, but the descendants will not flourish, and lingering illness becomes a curse. The verse's two halves refuse to reconcile — prosperity and affliction coexist without explanation. From Nourishment to Before Completion, the transformation leaves everything unresolved. The fox's tail gets wet crossing the final stream. Nourishment has brought the traveler far, but the last step remains unfinished, and what should culminate in generational blessing trails off into sickness and decline.
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