Hexagram 35: Progress → Hexagram 31: Influence

Progress
Fire / Earth
Influence
Lake / Mountain
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).

Line 3

六三 眾允悔亡。

zhòngmany
yǔnpermission
huǐregret(s)
wángpass

Six in the third place means: All are in accord. Remorse disappears.

Line 5

六五 悔亡。失得勿恤。往吉无不利。

huǐregret(s)
wángpass
shīabout
and gain
are not to be
taken to heart
wǎngsimply to go
is promising
without
doubt
worthwhile

Six in the fifth place means: Remorse disappears. Take not gain and loss to heart. Undertakings bring good fortune. Everything serves to further.

Line 6

上九 晉其角。維用伐邑。厲吉无咎。貞吝。

jìnadvancing
one's
jiǎohorns
wéilimit
yòngthis practice
to subjugate
of the home town
that harsh
is promising
is not
jiùto be blamed
zhēnbut persistence
lìnis embarrassment

Nine at the top means: Making progress with the horns is permissible Only for the purpose of punishing one's own city. To be conscious of danger brings good fortune. No blame. Perseverance brings humiliation.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramFire LakeThe Clinging → The Joyous
Lower TrigramEarth MountainThe Receptive → Keeping Still

Yilin Verse

宮城立見,衣就袂裙,恭謙自衛,終无禍尤。

The palace walls stand before him; he arranges sleeves and skirt. Reverent and humble in self-restraint; in the end, no disaster or fault.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Fire rises above the earth, and the palace walls stand visible before one's eyes. Robes are arranged with care, sleeves and skirts adjusted properly. Through reverence and humility the figure guards himself, and in the end no misfortune or blame arises. The verse depicts a courtier who has arrived at the seat of power and navigates it through meticulous propriety: every fold of cloth a statement of self-discipline. From Progress to Influence, the transformation is subtle. The lake rests upon the mountain — mutual responsiveness between high and low. The courtier's careful self-presentation is itself a form of influence: by receiving the court's authority with proper deference, he creates the conditions for genuine connection. Influence flows not from assertion but from the empty receptivity of humility.

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