大壯 → 觀
Hexagram 34: Great Power → Hexagram 20: Contemplation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 壯于趾。征凶有孚。
Nine at the beginning means: Power in the toes. Continuing brings misfortune. This is certainly true.
Line 2
九二 貞吉。
Nine in the second place means: Perseverance brings good fortune.
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 4
九四 貞吉。悔亡。藩決不羸。壯于大輿之輹。
Nine in the fourth place means: Perseverance brings good fortune. Remorse disappears. The hedge opens; there is no entanglement. Power depends upon the axle of a big cart.
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
纓急縮頸，行不得前，五石示象，襄霸不成。
The cord pulls tight, the neck shrinks; one cannot go forward. Five stones show the omen; Duke Xiang's hegemony fails.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder above heaven tightens the chin-strap until the neck contracts — one cannot advance at all. 'Five stones reveal an omen' may allude to Duke Xiang of Song, whose quixotic pursuit of hegemony ended in humiliating defeat at the Battle of Hong River in 638 BC. He insisted on fighting by the rules of chivalry against Chu's vastly superior forces, refusing to attack before the enemy had fully crossed the river. His hegemonic ambition never materialized. From Great Power to Contemplation, wind blows across the earth in Guan: the sage-king surveys the realm and sets teachings. The transformation suggests that when power is strangled by misplaced principle, one must step back and observe rather than press forward. Failed ambition demands not more force but deeper reflection.
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