咸 → 解
Hexagram 31: Influence → Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5).
Line 2
六二 咸其腓。凶。居吉。
Six in the second place means: The influence shows itself in the calves of the legs. Misfortune. Tarrying brings good fortune.
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
常葉折衝，佐鬭者傷，暴臣失國，良臣破殃。
Evergreen leaves break in the clash; those who join the fray are wounded. The violent minister loses the state; the loyal minister is destroyed by calamity.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake upon a mountain, and those who intervene in conflict are themselves destroyed. Those who assist in battle suffer wounds; violent ministers lose the state, and even loyal ministers are broken by the catastrophe. The phrase 'folding the rushes to mediate a fight' (常葉折衝) suggests attempting to buffer a collision with fragile material — a futile intervention. The verse is a warning against getting caught between warring forces: the peacemaker is crushed, the aggressor is ruined, and the loyal servant shares in the destruction regardless of virtue. From Influence to Deliverance, the mountain's receptive feeling becomes thunder and rain that release accumulated tension. Deliverance pardons past wrongs, but the verse reminds us that before the storm breaks, those standing in its path are destroyed indiscriminately.
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