遯 → 隨
Hexagram 33: Retreat → Hexagram 17: Following
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 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 3
九三 係遯。有疾厲。畜臣妾吉。
Nine in the third place means: A halted retreat Is nerve-wracking and dangerous. To retain people as men- and maidservants 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
堯問伊舜，聖德增益，使民不懼，安無悚惕。
Yao consults with Shun; sagely virtue increases and grows. The people are made to fear nothing; peaceful and free from dread.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the mountain flows into lake over thunder — Following, where one attunes to the rhythm of the times. Yao consults Shun, and sagely virtue multiplies. The people are freed from fear, dwelling in peace without anxiety. The verse envisions the ideal succession: the elder sage-king recognizes the younger's merit and yields authority, amplifying virtue through trust. Yao's abdication to Shun represents the supreme act of political retreat — stepping aside not from weakness but from wisdom. From Retreat to Following, the mountain's withdrawal becomes the lake settling over thunder: joy resting upon movement. The one who retreats creates a current others can follow. Yao's retreat is not abandonment but the founding gesture that enables Shun's benevolent rule.
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