大過 → 歸妹
Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding → Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5).
Line 1
初六 藉用白茅。无咎。
Six at the beginning means: To spread white rushes underneath. No blame.
Line 3
九三 棟橈。凶。
Nine in the third place means: The ridgepole sags to the breaking point. Misfortune.
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
畜水得時，以備火災。柱車絆馬，郊行出旅，可以無咎。
Storing water in its season; to guard against fire’s calamity. Braking the cart, hobbling the horse; setting forth on a journey to the outskirts. Thus there may be no blame.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake over wind gives way to thunder above lake — the Marrying Maiden, where the younger follows the elder into an arranged match. Storing water in time of need to prepare against fire; blocking the cart and hobbling the horse for a journey to the suburbs. One may proceed without blame. The verse is about timely preparation: water stored before the fire, horses secured before travel. Each image shows foresight converting potential disaster into manageable risk. The Marrying Maiden's lesson is about accepting an imperfect arrangement and making it work through careful management. From Great Exceeding to the Marrying Maiden, the sagging beam's excess water is stored rather than feared — recast as the reserve that will extinguish future fires. Proper preparation transforms liability into resource.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store