咸 → 萃
Hexagram 31: Influence → Hexagram 45: Gathering Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 3).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
桀跖並處，民之愁苦，擁兵荷糧，戰於齊魯，合巹同牢，姬姜並居。
Jie and Zhi dwell together; the people grieve in sorrow. Bearing arms and shouldering grain; they fight between Qi and Lu. Sharing the wedding cup and feast; Ji and Jiang reside together.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake upon a mountain, and the scene shifts between tyranny and union. Jie and Zhi dwell together — the Xia tyrant and the great bandit side by side — and the people groan under their shared oppression. Armies clash with provisions on their backs, battling between Qi and Lu. Then an abrupt pivot: the wedding chalice is shared, the ceremonial meal prepared, and the Ji and Jiang clans — the two great surname groups of Zhou nobility — live together in harmony. The verse juxtaposes the worst of political chaos with the best of domestic union. From Influence to Gathering, the mountain's receptive feeling becomes the lake pooling upon the earth. Gathering's purpose is to prepare against the unexpected; this verse shows why — tyranny and war are never far from the feast of peace.
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