遯 → 大有
Hexagram 33: Retreat → Hexagram 14: Great Possession
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5).
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 5
九五 嘉遯貞吉。
Nine in the fifth place means: Friendly retreat. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
築門壅戶，虎臥當道，驚我驊騮，不利出處。
The gate is built up, the door sealed shut; a tiger lies across the road. It startles my fine steed; it is not favorable to go out.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the mountain blazes into fire over heaven — Great Possession's brilliant abundance. But the verse is all obstruction: gates are sealed and doors blocked; a tiger crouches across the road, startling the fine horses, making it impossible to venture forth. Great Possession's image is fire blazing high above heaven — supreme illumination and control. Yet here the path to abundance is guarded by a predator. From Retreat to Great Possession, the transformation suggests that the wealth and power awaiting the retreater are real but fiercely guarded. The tiger on the road is not random danger but territorial sovereignty — one does not simply walk into possession. The retreating figure must first reckon with the guardian at the gate, and the spooked horses reveal an inner terror that no strategic withdrawal has resolved.
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