大壯 → 巽
Hexagram 34: Great Power → Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 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 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
犬吠非主，上下膠擾，敵人襲戰，閔王逃走。
The dog barks at one not its master; above and below are in turmoil and confusion. The enemy attacks in battle; King Min of Qi flees.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder above heaven sets dogs barking at strangers — not at enemies but at their own master, unable to distinguish friend from foe. Above and below are in turmoil, glued together in mutual confusion. Then the enemy strikes, and King Min of Qi flees. This alludes to the devastating invasion of Qi by Yue Yi's coalition of five states in 284 BC. King Min's arrogance had alienated his own people and allies, so when the blow fell, his court collapsed and he fled to Ju, where he was eventually killed. From Great Power to the Gentle, doubled wind in Xun carries orders outward. The transformation reveals what Min lacked: the gentle, persistent penetration of clear communication. His dogs barked at shadows because his commands had already lost all authority.
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