Hexagram 38: Opposition → Hexagram 45: Gathering Together

Opposition
Fire / Lake
Gathering Together
Lake / Earth
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5, 6).

Line 1

初九 悔亡。喪馬勿逐自復。見惡人。无咎。

huǐregret(s)
wángpass
sàng(a
horse
do not
zhú(be) pursue
(and) of
(it) returns
jiàn(to
è(the) evil
rén(in) people
is not
jiùto blame

Nine at the beginning means: Remorse disappears. If you lose your horse, do not run after it; It will come back of its own accord. When you see evil people, Guard yourself against mistakes.

Line 2

九二 遇主于巷。无咎。

meeting (with)
zhǔ(a
in
xiàngalley
no
jiùblame

Nine in the second place means: One meets his lord in a narrow street. No blame.

Line 5

六五 悔亡。厥宗噬膚。往何咎。

huǐregret(s)
wángpass
juéits
zōngkind
shìeat
(soft
wǎng(in) going
where is
jiù(the) blame

Six in the fifth place means: Remorse disappears. The companion bites his way through the wrappings. If one goes to him, How could it be a mistake?

Line 6

上九 睽孤。見豕負塗。載鬼一車。先張之弧。後說之弧。匪寇婚媾。往遇雨則吉。

kuíestranged
(and) (all) alone
jiànseeing
shǐ(a) pig
covered
filth
zàihaul
guǐdemons
(and
chēwagon
xiān(at) first
zhāngstretch
zhīhis
(long)bow
hòu(and
shuōrelaxing
zhīhis
(long)bow
fěiit
kòu(a
hūn(but) (a) marital
gòusuitor
wǎngin going
greet
(the) rain
(and
promising

Nine at the top means: Isolated through opposition, One sees one's companion as a pig covered with dirt, As a wagon full of devils. First one draws a bow against him, then one lays the bow aside. He is not a robber; he will woo at the right time. As one goes, rain falls; then good fortune comes.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramFire LakeThe Clinging → The Joyous
Lower TrigramLake EarthThe Joyous → The Receptive

Yilin Verse

繼體守藩,縱欲廢賢。君臣淫遊,夏氏失身。側室之門,福祿來存。

Inheriting the domain, guarding the fief; indulging desire, discarding the worthy. Lord and ministers wander in excess; the house of Xia loses itself. From the side chamber's door; blessings and fortune still endure.

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

Commentary

Fire above the lake, and a successor-ruler guards his domain but squanders it through indulgence, dismissing the worthy and promoting the corrupt. The verse then names the catastrophe: 'the Xia woman lost her virtue' — an allusion to Lady Xia (夏姬), the notorious beauty of Chen whose allure destroyed men and states. According to the Zuo Zhuan, the ministers Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu both carried on affairs with her, leading to Duke Ling of Chen's assassination. Yet the verse closes with an unexpected turn: through the side-chamber door, fortune and prosperity arrive. From Opposition to Gathering, the lake rests upon the earth, and the gentleman prepares weapons against the unforeseen. The transformation warns that when pleasure corrupts the main hall, survival may come only through the back entrance.

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