Hexagram 32: Duration → Hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake

Duration
Thunder / Wind
The Joyous Lake
Lake / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5).

Line 1

初六 浚恆貞凶。无攸利。

jùndig
héngfor
zhēnpersistence
xiōngis disappointing
this is no
yōua direction
with merit

Six at the beginning means: Seeking duration too hastily brings misfortune persistently. Nothing that would further.

Line 3

九三 不恆其德。或承之羞。貞吝。

lacking
héngcontinuity
in
character
huòperhaps
chéngaccept
zhīin
xiūunworthiness
zhēnto persist
lìnis embarrassment

Nine in the third place means: He who does not give duration to his character Meets with disgrace. Persistent humiliation.

Line 5

六五 恒其德貞。婦人吉。夫子凶。

héngcontinuity
in
character
zhēnis
for a
rénmaturity
is promising
for a
youth
xiōngis

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.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramThunder LakeThe Arousing → The Joyous
Lower TrigramWind LakeThe Gentle → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

張狂妄行,竊食盜糧,狗吠非主,囓傷我足。

Acting wild and reckless, stealing food and pilfering grain. The dog barks for a stranger master; it bites and wounds my foot.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Thunder above wind, Duration's steady household, breaks into doubled lake — the Joyous's surface delight. A man struts wildly, stealing food and plundering grain. A dog barks at one who is not its master and bites the foot. The verse paints a scene of brazen theft and misplaced aggression: the thief acts with impunity, and the guard dog attacks the wrong person. Duration's domestic order has been thoroughly corrupted — the one who should provide steals, and the one who should protect attacks the innocent. From Duration to the Joyous, the doubled lake should represent mutual delight and shared discourse. But here the lake's openness is exploited: the open household becomes open to plunder, and the joy of community is replaced by the howl of a dog that cannot tell friend from foe.

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