咸 → 噬嗑
Hexagram 31: Influence → Hexagram 21: Biting Through
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 咸其拇。
Six at the beginning means: The influence shows itself in the big toe.
Line 3
九三 咸其股。執其隨。往吝。
Nine in the third place means: The influence shows itself in the thighs. Holds to that which follows it. To continue is humiliating.
Line 5
九五 咸其脢。无悔。
Nine in the fifth place means: The influence shows itself in the back of the neck. No remorse.
Line 6
上六 咸其輔頰舌。
Six at the top means: The influence shows itself in the jaws, cheeks, and tongue.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
枯樹不花，空淵無魚，蕉鳥飛翔，利棄我去。
A withered tree bears no flowers; an empty pool holds no fish. The anxious bird takes flight; profit departs and leaves me.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake upon a mountain, but all vitality has departed. A withered tree bears no flowers, an empty pool holds no fish, and the birds of the marshes take flight, abandoning the speaker as they leave. Every image is one of depletion: the tree that should bloom is dead at the root, the water that should teem with life is drained, and even the companionship of birds dissolves. From Influence to Biting Through, the mountain's gentle receptivity transforms into fire and thunder — the forceful image of law and punishment, jaws clamping down on an obstruction. The emptiness described suggests that what should have been bitten through — the obstacle — was never addressed, and now there is nothing left to salvage. Neglected correction leads to total barrenness.
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