睽 → 小過
Hexagram 38: Opposition → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 6).
Line 1
初九 悔亡。喪馬勿逐自復。見惡人。无咎。
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。
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 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
采薇出車，魚麗思初。上下促急，君子懷憂。
Gathering bracken, sending forth chariots; the fish-scale ranks recall the beginning. Above and below press urgently; the gentleman harbors worry.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire above the lake, and the Shijing's military odes echo through the verse. 'Caiwei' names the soldiers gathering ferns on the frontier as they wait to fight the Xianyun; 'Chu Che' sends war chariots rolling out in defense; 'Yu Li' recalls the feast of fish after a successful campaign. The verse compresses these poetic memories into a single urgent frame: superiors and subordinates press each other anxiously, and the gentleman's heart fills with worry. These odes, from the Xiao Ya section, chronicle the cycle of war — mobilization, hardship, and the longing for peace. From Opposition to Small Exceeding, thunder rumbles above the mountain, and the gentleman practices excessive reverence, excessive grief, and excessive frugality. The transformation counsels that in times of military anxiety, one should err on the side of too much caution rather than too little.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store