大過 → 兌
Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding → Hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 3).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
栵潔縲縲，結締難解。嫫母衒嫁，媒不得坐，自為身禍。
Thorns tangled, cords knotted; tied tight and hard to loosen. Momo hawks herself for marriage; the matchmaker cannot even sit. She brings disaster on herself.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake over wind meets doubled lake — the Joyous, where openness and mutual delight invite exchange. Branches are stripped and bound in tight tangles, knotted and impossible to undo. Lady Mo advertises herself for marriage, but the matchmaker cannot even sit down — she brings disaster upon herself. Lady Mo (嫫母) was legendarily the ugliest woman in antiquity, yet valued by the Yellow Emperor for her inner virtue. Here, however, Mo Mu 'selling herself' (衒嫁) inverts the original legend: instead of being chosen for hidden worth, she aggressively markets herself and repels everyone. The Joyous promises mutual pleasure through openness, but forced joy is its corruption. From Great Exceeding to the Joyous, excess becomes desperation — the harder one pushes for connection, the more entangled and repulsive the attempt becomes.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store