遯 → 未濟
Hexagram 33: Retreat → Hexagram 64: Before Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 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 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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
酒為歡伯，除憂來樂，福善入門，與君相索，使我有得。
Wine is the lord of joy; it banishes sorrow and brings delight. Good fortune enters through the gate; it seeks you out, my lord — granting me my gain.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the mountain kindles into fire over water — Before Completion, where all elements are present but not yet in their final arrangement. Wine is the lord of joy, dispelling worry and inviting happiness. Blessing and goodness enter through the door; together with the lord, one seeks and finds what was desired. The verse ends the hexagram's cycle on a convivial note: wine flows, anxieties dissolve, fortune arrives. Yet Before Completion's image is fire above water — close to completion but not quite there, each element striving toward its proper place. From Retreat to Before Completion, the mountain's withdrawal encounters the threshold of arrival without crossing it. The wine signals celebration, but the work is not finished. Joy is present, fortune has entered the gate, yet the final step remains untaken.
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