大壯 → 遯
Hexagram 34: Great Power → Hexagram 33: Retreat
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 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
剛柔相傷，火爛銷金，鵰鷹制兔，伐楚有功。
Hard and soft wound each other; fire melts and consumes gold. The eagle and hawk seize the rabbit; the campaign against Chu is victorious.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder above heaven sets hard and soft against each other: fire melts metal, and the eagle-hawk seizes the rabbit. The opening line names the fundamental dynamic — rigid and yielding in mutual injury — then illustrates it with two images of overwhelming force applied to weaker material. Fire dissolving metal and raptors catching prey are both natural processes, but the verse then pivots to a specific military reference: 'attacking Chu with success.' This likely recalls one of the many northern campaigns against the southern giant. From Great Power to Retreat, heaven stands above the mountain in Dun. The transformation reveals the wisdom of tactical withdrawal after a decisive strike: the eagle does not linger over its kill, and the victorious army retreats while its advantage holds.
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