大過 → 鼎
Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding → Hexagram 50: The Cauldron
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 5, 6).
Line 5
九五 枯楊生華。老婦得其士夫。无咎无譽。
Nine in the fifth place means: A withered poplar puts forth flowers. An older woman takes a husband. No blame. No praise.
Line 6
上六 過涉滅頂。凶。无咎。
Six at the top means: One must go through the water. It goes over one's head. Misfortune. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
履素行德，卒蒙祐福。與堯侑食，君子有息。
Treading plainly, practicing virtue; at last he receives protection and blessing. Dining at Yao’s side; the noble man finds rest.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake over wind transforms into fire above wind — the Cauldron, vessel of civilized transformation. Walking in plainness and practicing virtue, one ultimately receives heaven's blessing and protection. Dining alongside Emperor Yao himself, the gentleman finds repose. The verse invokes Yao, the sage-king par excellence, as the ultimate dining companion — sharing a meal with the embodiment of perfect governance. 'Walking in plainness and practicing virtue' echoes the Zhongyong's teaching that the Way begins in common conduct. The Cauldron's image — fire over wood — cooks raw material into nourishment, just as virtue refines character into worthiness. From Great Exceeding to the Cauldron, the collapsing beam is replaced by the sacrificial vessel. What was structural failure becomes civilized transformation: excess refined into offering, burden transmuted into blessing.
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