晉 → 萃
Hexagram 35: Progress → Hexagram 45: Gathering Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 5, 6).
Line 5
六五 悔亡。失得勿恤。往吉无不利。
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。
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
Yilin Verse
孔鸞鴛雛，鵁鵝鵜鴣，翱翔紫淵，嘉禾之圃，君子以娛。
Peacock, phoenix, mandarin chick; night heron, ibis, turtledove. Soaring above the purple pool; in the garden of fine grain. The gentleman takes his delight.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire rises above the earth, and the air fills with auspicious birds: phoenixes, mandarin ducks, fledglings, and waterfowl soar and glide above a purple pool amid gardens of excellent grain. The gentleman takes delight in this spectacle. Every bird in this verse signals blessing: the phoenix appears only under sage rule, mandarin ducks symbolize faithful partnership, and the garden of fine grain represents material abundance. From Progress to Gathering, the transformation completes the image. The lake gathers upon the earth — people and blessings naturally converge. The paradise garden where rare birds congregate is Gathering made visible: when conditions are right, all precious things assemble of their own accord. The gentleman's joy is the recognition that genuine prosperity attracts rather than compels.
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