遯 → 泰
Hexagram 33: Retreat → Hexagram 11: Peace
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 遯尾厲。勿用有攸往。
Six at the beginning means: At the tail in retreat. This is dangerous. One must not wish to undertake anything.
Line 2
六二 執之用黃牛之革。莫之勝說。
Six in the second place means: he holds him fast with yellow oxhide. No one can tear him loose.
Line 4
九四 好遯。君子吉。小人否。
Nine in the fourth place means: Voluntary retreat brings good fortune to the superior man And downfall to the inferior man.
Line 5
九五 嘉遯貞吉。
Nine in the fifth place means: Friendly retreat. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Line 6
上九 肥遯无不利。
Nine at the top means: Cheerful retreat. Everything serves to further.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
縮緒亂絲，手與為哭。越畝逐兔，斷其襌襦。
Winding thread, tangled silk; hands join in it and weep. Crossing furrows to chase a hare; tearing one's unlined robe.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the mountain descends into earth below heaven — Peace, where heaven and earth mingle freely. Yet the verse paints disorder rather than harmony: tangled silk and knotted threads reduce one's hands to tears of frustration. Then the scene shifts to chasing a rabbit across open fields, tearing one's unlined robe in the process. The images capture futile effort — attempts to impose order on chaos and reckless pursuit that destroys what one wears. From Retreat to Peace, the transformation should bring communion between high and low, but here the retreating figure stumbles into confusion rather than harmony. Peace requires more than withdrawal; it demands patient untangling. The torn robe warns that rushing headlong toward resolution undoes whatever protection retreat once provided.
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