大壯 → 大有
Hexagram 34: Great Power → Hexagram 14: Great Possession
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 6).
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
褒后生蛇，經老皆微，追跌衰光，酒滅黃離。
Lady Bao gave birth to a serpent; through age all things diminish. Stumbling in declining light; wine extinguishes the yellow flame.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder above heaven illuminates the disastrous lineage of Bao Si, the consort who brought down the Western Zhou. The verse traces her mythological origin: the 'serpent born of Lady Bao' refers to the ancient dragon spittle that was sealed for generations until it produced a girl-child of uncanny beauty. 'Aging and withering' follows her path as radiance dims and glory fades — the beacon fires lit in jest, the feudal lords' trust squandered. Wine extinguishes the 'yellow brightness,' evoking the drunken dissolution of the court. From Great Power to Great Possession, fire blazes above heaven in Dayou, yet this verse inverts its promise: what should be great abundance becomes great ruin when beauty and power serve only indulgence.
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