Hexagram 4: Youthful Folly → Hexagram 38: Opposition

Youthful Folly
Mountain / Water
Opposition
Fire / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

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

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 4

六四 困蒙。吝。

kùnsurrounded
méngimmaturity
lìnembarrassment

Six in the fourth place means: Entangled folly bring humiliation.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramMountain FireKeeping Still → The Clinging
Lower TrigramWater LakeThe Deep → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

跮蹉側跌,申酉為祟。亥戌滅明,顏子隱藏。

Stumbling and slipping sideways; the shen and you hours bring misfortune. In the hai and xu hours, light is extinguished; the worthy one hides himself away.

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

Commentary

A spring beneath the mountain stumbles and falls sideways. Tripping and staggering, the hours of Shen and You bring malign influence. At Hai and Xu, brightness is extinguished, and Yan Hui withdraws into concealment. The Earthly Branches mark a darkening progression through the afternoon and into night. Yan Hui — Confucius's most beloved disciple, famed for living in virtuous poverty with a single bowl of rice and a gourd of water — retreats from view as darkness descends. From Youthful Folly to Opposition, fire and lake pull in contrary directions. The disciple who embodied quiet virtue is forced to hide, just as opposed elements refuse to harmonize. Talent does not always find its moment; sometimes the worthy must simply endure obscurity.

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