Hexagram 4: Youthful Folly → Hexagram 11: Peace

Youthful Folly
Mountain / Water
Peace
Earth / Heaven
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 6).

Line 1

初六 發蒙。利用刑人。用說桎梏。以往吝。

educating
méngthe inexperienced
worthwhile
yòngand useful
xíngto sanction
rénanother
yòngif used
shuōto remove
zhìshackles
handcuffs
but for this
wǎngto continue
lìndisgrace

Six at the beginning means: To make a fool develop It furthers one to apply discipline. The fetters should be removed. To go on in this way bring humiliation.

Line 3

六三 勿用取女。見金夫。不有躬。无攸利。

it is not at all
yònguseful
to pair
maiden
jiànwho sees
jīnof
gentleman
and does not
yǒuown
gōngher
this is no
yōudirection
with merit

Six in the third place means: Take not a maiden who, when she sees a man of bronze, Loses possession of herself. Nothing furthers.

Line 6

上九 擊蒙。不利為寇。利禦寇。

striking
ménginexperience
not
worthwhile
wéito be
kòuassailant
worthwhile
to defend against
kòuassailant

Nine at the top means: In punishing folly It does not further one To commit transgressions. The only thing that furthers Is to prevent transgressions.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramMountain EarthKeeping Still → The Receptive
Lower TrigramWater HeavenThe Deep → The Creative

Yilin Verse

異體殊患,各有所屬。四鄰孤媼,欲寄我室。王母罵詈,求不可得。

Different bodies, different ailments; each belongs to a different place. The widows of four neighbors wish to lodge in my house. The matriarch scolds and curses; what is sought cannot be had.

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

Commentary

A spring beneath the mountain encounters the broad expanse of Peace, yet finds no welcome. Bodies differ, troubles differ, each belongs to its own kind. A lonely old widow from the neighboring quarter wishes to lodge in our house, but the matriarch scolds and refuses — the request cannot be granted. The verse captures social exclusion even in an age of supposed harmony: the outsider seeking shelter is turned away by household authority. From Youthful Folly to Peace, the transformation suggests that cosmic harmony does not automatically extend to every individual. Heaven and earth may commune, but the widow still sleeps outside the gate. Peace must be actively distributed, not merely proclaimed.

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