咸 → 復
Hexagram 31: Influence → Hexagram 24: Return
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 5).
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 4
九四 貞吉悔亡。憧憧往來。朋從爾思。
Nine in the fourth place means: Perseverance brings good fortune. Remorse disappears. If a man is agitated in mind, And his thoughts go hither and thither, Only those friends On whom he fixes his conscious thoughts Will follow.
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
大椎破轂，長舌亂國，床笫之言，三世不安。
The great axle pin shatters the hub; a long tongue disorders the state. Words spoken from the bed; three generations find no peace.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake upon a mountain, but the axle pin snaps and the wheel hub shatters — the vehicle of state breaks down. A 'long tongue' (長舌) throws the kingdom into chaos, and pillow talk between bedfellows destabilizes three generations. The 'long tongue that disrupts the state' is a classical allusion to the Shijing poem 'Zhanan' (瞻卬), which warns against women's counsel in governance: 'A woman with a long tongue is a stepping-stone to ruin.' The 'words of the bed-curtain' (床笫之言) specifically refers to intimate influence wielded behind closed doors that corrupts public policy. From Influence to Return, the mountain's openness becomes thunder buried beneath the earth. What should be a fresh beginning — the return of yang — is poisoned at the root by the private whisper that destroys public order across generations.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store