恆 → 剝
Hexagram 32: Duration → Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 6).
Line 2
九二 悔亡。
Nine in the second place means: Remorse disappears.
Line 3
九三 不恆其德。或承之羞。貞吝。
Nine in the third place means: He who does not give duration to his character Meets with disgrace. Persistent humiliation.
Line 4
九四 田无禽。
Nine in the fourth place means: No game in the field.
Line 6
上六 振恆凶。
Six at the top means: Restlessness as an enduring condition brings misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
高樓陸處，以避風雨，深堂邃宇，君安其所。
A high tower on level ground, sheltering from wind and rain. Deep halls and secluded chambers; the lord rests at ease in his place.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder above wind, Duration's reliable constancy, meets mountain above earth — Splitting Apart's slow erosion. Yet the verse inverts the ominous target: high towers and elevated chambers provide shelter from wind and rain. Deep halls and hidden rooms keep the lord secure in his place. Rather than fearing the mountain's collapse upon the earth, the subject builds upward — constructing lasting refuges against the elements. Duration's persistence here manifests as architectural endurance: what is well-built and maintained protects against stripping forces. From Duration to Splitting Apart, the steady rhythm confronts decay, but the response is proactive fortification. The lord who maintains his dwelling with constancy need not fear the erosion that topples the neglected.
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