大過 → 渙
Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding → Hexagram 59: Dispersion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 6).
Line 3
九三 棟橈。凶。
Nine in the third place means: The ridgepole sags to the breaking point. Misfortune.
Line 4
九四 棟隆。吉。有它吝。
Nine in the fourth place means: The ridgepole is braced. Good fortune. If there are ulterior motives, it is humiliating.
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
烏鳴庭中，以戒災凶。重門擊柝，備憂暴客。
The crow cries in the courtyard; to warn of calamity and misfortune. Double gates, striking the clapper; guarding against sudden intruders.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake over wind scatters into wind above water — Dispersion, where accumulated tension is released. A crow cries in the courtyard, warning of disaster. Double gates are shut and the watchman's clapper sounds, guarding against the sudden intruder. The crow's cry in the courtyard is a classical omen of impending calamity — an uninvited messenger from the liminal world. The response is immediate and practical: gates are doubled, the night watch intensified. 'Double gates and striking clappers' quotes the I-Ching's own Xici commentary on preparing against the unexpected. From Great Exceeding to Dispersion, the overburdened structure disperses its weight through vigilance. The crow's warning scatters complacency; the doubled gates and watchman's clapper redistribute security across every threshold. Dispersion here is not collapse but controlled distribution of defensive attention.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store