睽 → 節
Hexagram 38: Opposition → Hexagram 60: Limitation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 4, 5, 6).
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.
Line 5
六五 悔亡。厥宗噬膚。往何咎。
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。
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
Yilin Verse
一身三手，无益於輔。兩足共節，不能克敏。
One body with three hands; no help for its support. Two feet sharing one joint; unable to be nimble.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire above the lake, and the body itself embodies contradiction. One torso with three hands offers no additional help — the extra limbs get in each other's way rather than assisting. Two feet sharing a single joint cannot move with agility. The verse uses anatomical absurdity to illustrate the futility of excess without coordination: more hands do not mean more capability when they lack a unified purpose, and joined feet cannot walk faster than separated ones. From Opposition to Limitation, water stands above the lake, and the gentleman establishes measures and deliberates on proper conduct. The transformation from grotesque excess to measured restraint suggests that the solution to Opposition's dysfunction is not accumulation but discipline — defining limits, setting boundaries, and accepting that less, properly organized, accomplishes more.
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