離 → 升
Hexagram 30: The Clinging Fire → Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 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 4
九四 突如其來如。焚如。死如。棄如。
Nine in the fourth place means: Its coming is sudden; It flames up, dies down, is thrown away.
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
南行戴鎧，登塲九魁，車傷牛罷，日暮咨嗟。
Marching south wearing armor; mounting the field, champion nine times over. The cart breaks, the ox falters; at day's end, lamenting and sighing.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Doubled fire meets wind growing within the earth: brilliance attempts to rise but the ascent exhausts itself. Marching south in armor, one enters the arena and wins the chief prize nine times over. Yet the cart is damaged and the ox spent; at sunset, only sighs remain. The verse begins with martial triumph — nine victories in the tournament — but pivots sharply to exhaustion. The ox that pulled the supply cart has collapsed; the equipment is broken; evening descends on a spent warrior. From The Clinging to Pushing Upward, fire's aspiration meets the slow growth of wood within the earth. The tree pushes upward gradually, accumulating small gains. The verse warns that fire's nature — to blaze upward quickly — is incompatible with Sheng's patient method. Ascent without pacing leads to burnout.
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