遯 → 蠱
Hexagram 33: Retreat → Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 5).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
昭公失常，季氏悖狂，遜齊處鄆，喪其寵身。
Duke Zhao lost his proper authority; the Ji clan rebelled in madness. He fled to Qi and dwelt in Yun; losing his favored position.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the mountain decays into mountain over wind — Work on the Decayed, where inherited corruption must be confronted. Duke Zhao of Lu loses his bearings; the Ji family acts with unbridled arrogance. The duke flees to Qi and resides at Yun, losing both his state and his person. In 517 BC, Duke Zhao attacked the powerful Ji family but was defeated and forced into exile — first to Qi, then to Yun, where he remained until his death in 510 BC, never regaining his throne. From Retreat to Work on the Decayed, the verse captures retreat as failure rather than strategy. The Gu hexagram demands that one confront inherited decay; Duke Zhao's retreat was the opposite — an escape that left the rot untreated, ensuring his permanent displacement.
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