大壯 → 大過
Hexagram 34: Great Power → Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 5).
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 5
六五 喪羊于易。无悔。
Six in the fifth place means: Loses the goat with ease. No remorse.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
鼠聚生怪，為我患悔，道絕不通，商旅失意。
Rats swarm and breed monstrosities, bringing regret and grief to us. The road is severed, impassable; the merchant loses his way.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder above heaven drives rats into unnatural aggregation, breeding monstrous portents. The swarming rodents bring misfortune and regret; the roads are cut and travelers cannot pass. Merchants lose their investments, commerce grinds to halt. Rats in classical Chinese symbolism represent petty men who gnaw at the foundations — their unnatural gathering signals systemic corruption. From Great Power to Great Exceeding, the lake submerges the trees in Daguo, the ridgepole sagging under impossible weight. The transformation reveals how power corrupted by vermin collapses under its own burden. When small creatures accumulate beyond proportion, the structure that once contained them buckles. Roads blocked by rats become a realm overburdened past its breaking point.
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