恆 → 益
Hexagram 32: Duration → Hexagram 42: Increase
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 浚恆貞凶。无攸利。
Six at the beginning means: Seeking duration too hastily brings misfortune persistently. Nothing that would further.
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 5
六五 恒其德貞。婦人吉。夫子凶。
Six in the fifth place means: Giving duration to one's character through perseverance. This is good fortune for a woman, misfortune for a man.
Line 6
上六 振恆凶。
Six at the top means: Restlessness as an enduring condition brings misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
東資齊魯，得騂犬馬。便辟能言，巧賈善市。
Trading eastward with Qi and Lu; acquiring russet hounds and horses. Glib of tongue and skilled in speech; a clever merchant, shrewd in trade.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder above wind, Duration's persistent exchange, flows into wind above thunder — Increase's generous augmentation. Traveling east to trade in Qi and Lu, one obtains fine red horses and dogs. Glib-tongued men and clever merchants are skilled at the marketplace. The states of Qi and Lu were the commercial centers of the eastern seaboard, famous for their bustling markets and sophisticated traders. The verse celebrates mercantile success through sustained commercial networks — the enduring trade routes that connect regions. From Duration to Increase, the thunder-and-wind pattern intensifies: wind and thunder together double their mutual benefit. Duration's steady trade relationships compound into Increase's expanding returns. The skilled merchant's silver tongue is not deception but the social lubricant of sustained commerce.
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