離 → 未濟
Hexagram 30: The Clinging Fire → Hexagram 64: Before Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
虎狼之鄉，日爭凶訟，叨爾為長，不能定從。
A land of tigers and wolves; daily contending in fierce disputes. Presumptuously claiming the elder's place; unable to settle who shall lead.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Doubled fire meets fire above water: brilliance hovers over an uncrossable gulf. This is the land of tigers and wolves, where daily disputes and violent litigation rage. One is recklessly appointed leader but cannot establish order. The final verse of the hexagram 30 cycle arrives at Before Completion — the last hexagram of the I-Ching — and fittingly depicts a situation of intractable chaos. Tigers and wolves represent predatory power without governance; endless contention without resolution. From The Clinging to Before Completion, fire blazes above water but cannot reach it. The fox has almost crossed the stream but wets its tail at the last moment. The verse embodies this frustration: one is given authority in a lawless territory but lacks the means to bridge the gap between intention and order. Brilliance illuminates the chaos but cannot, by itself, resolve it.
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