遯 → 解
Hexagram 33: Retreat → Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5, 6).
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 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 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
求我所欲，得其利福，終身不辱，盈盛之門，高屋先覆，君失邦國。
Seeking what I desire; gaining its profit and blessing. A life without disgrace; yet the gate of brimming fullness — the tallest house is first to topple. The lord loses his domain.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the mountain thunders into thunder over water — Deliverance, where tension is released and bonds are loosened. The verse opens with fulfillment: seeking what one desires, gaining benefit and blessing, living without disgrace. Then it pivots sharply: the gate of fullness and prosperity invites destruction — tall buildings are the first to collapse, and the ruler loses his state. The proverb 'tall buildings are first to topple' warns against the hubris of accumulated success. From Retreat to Deliverance, the mountain's withdrawal should release stored tension. But the verse warns that deliverance from restraint can itself become dangerous: once the bonds are loosened, everything that was held together may fly apart. The ruler who finally gains what he sought discovers that fullness carries its own destruction within it.
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