離 → 解
Hexagram 30: The Clinging Fire → Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 6).
Line 1
初九 履錯然。敬之。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: The footprints run crisscross. If one is seriously intent, no blame.
Line 2
六二 黃離。元吉。
Six in the second place means: Yellow light. Supreme good fortune.
Line 3
九三 日昃之離。不鼓缶而歌。則大耋之嗟。凶。
Nine in the third place means: In the light of the setting sun, Men either beat the pot and sing Or loudly bewail the approach of old age. Misfortune.
Line 6
上九 王用出征。有嘉。折首。獲匪其醜。无咎。
Nine at the top means: The king uses him to march forth and chastise. Then it is best to kill the leaders And take captive the followers. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
飛文污身，為邪所牽，青蠅分白，貞孝放逐。
Slander stains the person; dragged along by wickedness. Blue-bottle flies confound the white; the loyal and filial are banished.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Doubled fire meets thunder above water: brilliance seeks deliverance from slander. Ornate accusations stain the body; one is dragged down by wicked forces. Green flies confuse white and black, and the loyal and filial are banished. The 'green flies' (qingying) allusion comes from the Shijing ode 'Qing Ying,' which warns that buzzing flies settling on fences represent slanderers who distort truth and sow division between ruler and minister. The loyal are driven out precisely because their brightness attracts the flies' attention. From The Clinging to Deliverance, fire's penetrating clarity meets the liberating force of thunder over water. Deliverance from slander requires the cleansing storm: only when the thunder clears the air can the falsely accused find vindication and return from exile.
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