蒙 → 大畜
Hexagram 4: Youthful Folly → Hexagram 26: Great Taming
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 3).
Line 1
初六 發蒙。利用刑人。用說桎梏。以往吝。
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。
Six in the third place means: Take not a maiden who, when she sees a man of bronze, Loses possession of herself. Nothing furthers.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
天厭周德,命與仁國。以禮靖民,兵革休息。
Heaven wearies of Zhou’s virtue and bestows the mandate upon a benevolent state. With ritual they pacify the people; weapons and armor are laid to rest.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A spring beneath the mountain carries the weight of heaven's judgment on dynasties. Heaven grew weary of Zhou's virtue and transferred the mandate to a benevolent state. Through rites the people are pacified, and weapons of war fall silent. The verse evokes the ancient theory of the Mandate of Heaven: when one dynasty's moral capital is spent, heaven simply withdraws its favor and bestows it elsewhere. From Youthful Folly to Great Taming, the transformation is profound. Heaven stored within the mountain — the image of Great Taming — means accumulated wisdom preserved across generations. The new recipient of heaven's mandate does not conquer by arms but tames through ritual, storing strength in culture rather than spending it in battle.
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