Hexagram 38: Opposition → Hexagram 53: Development

Opposition
Fire / Lake
Development
Wind / Mountain
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

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 3

六三 見輿曳。其牛掣。其人天且劓。无初有終。

jiànseeing
輿(a
(being) held up
its
niúoxen
chèhindered
its
rénoccupant's
tiānhead shaved (bald to heaven)
qiěand (even
(his
regardless of
chū(a
yǒu(but) there is
zhōng(a

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。

kuíestranged
(and) (all) alone
meet
yuán(a
(gentle)man
jiāoexchange
(in
(the) difficulty
(is) not
jiù(a) wrong(ness)

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.

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?

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramFire WindThe Clinging → The Gentle
Lower TrigramLake MountainThe Joyous → Keeping Still

Yilin Verse

魁罡所當,初為敗殃。君子留連,困於水漿。求金東山,利在代鄉。賈市有息,子載母行。

Where the Dipper and the Great Ridge point; first comes ruin and disaster. The gentleman lingers and delays; troubled by want of provisions. Seeking gold at the eastern mountain; profit lies in the land of Dai. Trading brings increase; the child carries on while the mother goes forth.

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

Commentary

Fire above the lake, and the stars impose an inauspicious beginning. The Dipper's handle and the Great Ridge star bring initial defeat and calamity. A gentleman lingers in difficulty, stranded without even water to drink. Yet the verse pivots: seek gold at the Eastern Mountain, where profit lies in the land of Dai. The marketplace yields returns, and the son carries on while the mother journeys forth. Category C marks this as a complex, multi-layered verse resisting neat interpretation. From Opposition to Development, trees grow slowly upon the mountain, and the gentleman cultivates virtue to improve local customs. The transformation from chaotic misfortune to gradual development counsels patience: even when the stars are hostile and the start is disastrous, slow, organic growth eventually bears fruit.

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