咸 → 歸妹
Hexagram 31: Influence → Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 5).
Line 1
初六 咸其拇。
Six at the beginning means: The influence shows itself in the big toe.
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
拔劍傷手，見敵不起，良臣無佐，困辱為咎。
Drawing the sword, he wounds his hand; seeing the enemy, he cannot rise. The loyal minister lacks support; trapped in disgrace and blame.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake upon a mountain, but the sword turns against its wielder. Drawing the blade, one cuts one's own hand; facing the enemy, one cannot rise to fight. A loyal minister has no support, and his predicament becomes his disgrace. The self-inflicted wound is the verse's central image: the very instrument meant for defense causes harm to its bearer, suggesting fatal incompetence or misdirected energy at the critical moment. From Influence to the Marrying Maiden, the mountain's receptive openness becomes thunder above a lake — the impulsive younger sister given in marriage, an arrangement governed more by obligation than by wisdom. The Marrying Maiden counsels awareness of enduring consequences. Here, the minister who draws his sword too hastily — like a match made too rashly — finds himself wounded by his own ill-timed action.
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