大壯 → 履
Hexagram 34: Great Power → Hexagram 10: Treading
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).
Line 3
九三 小人用壯。君子用罔。貞厲。羝羊觸藩。羸其角。
Nine in the third place means: The inferior man works through power. The superior man does not act thus. To continue is dangerous. A goat butts against a hedge And gets its horns entangled.
Line 5
六五 喪羊于易。无悔。
Six in the fifth place means: Loses the goat with ease. No remorse.
Line 6
上六 羝羊觸藩。不能退。不能遂。无攸利。艱則吉。
Six at the top means: A goat butts against a hedge. It cannot go backward, it cannot go forward. Nothing serves to further. If one notes the difficulty, this brings good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
德至之君，禍不過鄰，使我世存，身無患災。
A ruler of utmost virtue; calamity does not cross the threshold. He lets our generations endure; the body knows neither peril nor disaster.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rolls above heaven, but the ruler of supreme virtue contains disaster at the threshold. Calamity does not spread beyond the neighbors; the sovereign's moral presence shields the realm, ensuring that he and his house endure without harm. This is the Confucian ideal of de — virtue so potent that it functions as a protective field, deflecting misfortune by sheer moral gravity. From Great Power to Treading, the transformation refines raw strength into disciplined conduct. Heaven above lake in Lu establishes proper hierarchy: one treads upon the tiger's tail yet is not bitten, because propriety governs every step. Power wielded with virtue does not merely survive — it walks through danger unscathed.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store