睽 → 賁
Hexagram 38: Opposition → Hexagram 22: Grace
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4).
Line 2
九二 遇主于巷。无咎。
Nine in the second place means: One meets his lord in a narrow street. No blame.
Line 3
六三 見輿曳。其牛掣。其人天且劓。无初有終。
Six in the third place means: One sees the wagon dragged back, The oxen halted, A man's hair and nose cut off. Not a good beginning, but a good end.
Line 4
九四 睽孤。遇元夫。交孚。厲无咎。
Nine in the fourth place means: Isolated through opposition, One meets a like-minded man With whom one can associate in good faith. Despite the danger, no blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
剠刖髡劓，人所賤棄。批捍之言，我心不快。
Branded, maimed, shorn, and mutilated; despised and cast off by all. Harsh and hostile words; my heart finds no ease.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire above the lake, and the body bears the marks of estrangement. Branding on the face, severed feet, shaved head, cropped nose — the five mutilating punishments of ancient law render a person repulsive and discarded by society. Then harsh, dismissive words assault the ears, and the heart recoils in bitterness. The verse layers physical disfigurement upon verbal abuse: first the body is ruined, then the spirit is assaulted. The victim becomes an object of universal contempt. From Opposition to Grace, fire glows beneath the mountain, illuminating the base of things with understated beauty. The transformation from disfigurement to adornment suggests that even after severe damage, a measure of dignity can be restored through the quiet, modest grace that comes from within.
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