大壯 → 解
Hexagram 34: Great Power → Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 3).
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 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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
壽如松喬，與日月俱，常安康樂，不離禍憂。
Long-lived as Master Song and Master Qiao, enduring alongside sun and moon. Ever at peace and in good health; calamity and worry kept at bay.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder above heaven promises longevity as enduring as the immortals Song and Qiao — Chisongzi the Rain Master and Wang Qiao the prince who ascended on a crane. Life extends alongside the sun and moon, enjoying perpetual health and happiness without misfortune. The verse reads as a pure blessing, unburdened by complication or caveat. From Great Power to Deliverance, thunder and rain act together in Jie: the storm breaks, tension dissolves, and prisoners are pardoned. The transformation reveals how sustained power, when it achieves equilibrium, releases its own pressure. The immortals' secret was not eternal striving but knowing when to let go. Deliverance comes not through more strength but through the dissolution of whatever held strength captive.
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