Hexagram 32: Duration → Hexagram 7: The Army

Duration
Thunder / Wind
The Army
Earth / Water
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 3, 4).

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 4

九四 田无禽。

tiánthe field
is nothing without
qíngame

Nine in the fourth place means: No game in the field.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramThunder EarthThe Arousing → The Receptive
Lower TrigramWind WaterThe Gentle → The Deep

Yilin Verse

牛騂亡子,鳴於大野,申後陰徵,罡歸其母。

The russet ox has lost its calf; it lows across the great wilderness. After the late afternoon, a hidden sign; the young one returns to its mother.

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

Commentary

Thunder above wind shifts into earth above water — the Army's hidden discipline. A red-coated cow loses her calf and lows across the open fields. Queen Shen's influence wanes in secret; the child returns to its mother. The red cow (騂) was reserved for sacrificial use, lending ritual weight to the loss. 'Queen Shen' likely refers to the consort of King You of Zhou, who was deposed in favor of Bao Si — her demotion triggered the Marquis of Shen's alliance with the Quanrong that destroyed Western Zhou in 771 BC. From Duration to the Army, what was constant is upended: the mother separated from her young, the legitimate queen displaced. Yet earth contains water as a state contains its forces, and the calf's return hints that natural bonds outlast political upheaval.

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