蒙 → 節
Hexagram 4: Youthful Folly → Hexagram 60: Limitation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 5, 6).
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 5
六五 童蒙。吉。
Six in the fifth place means: Childlike folly brings good fortune.
Line 6
上九 擊蒙。不利為寇。利禦寇。
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
Yilin Verse
三人共妻，莫適為雌。子無名氏，公不可知。
Three men share one wife; none can be determined as the female. The child has no surname; the father cannot be known.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A spring beneath the mountain is muddied by disorder in the most intimate of relations. Three men share one wife; no one can determine who is the proper mate. The children have no clear surname; the father cannot be identified. The verse depicts a household where the most fundamental distinctions — paternity, lineage, identity — have been abolished through promiscuity. From Youthful Folly to Limitation, the transformation supplies exactly what this chaos lacks: boundaries. Water above the lake establishes measure and proportion; the gentleman sets standards and deliberates on proper conduct. The naif's disorder is not beyond repair, but the cure requires what was most resisted: clear limits on desire, firm lines where none existed before.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store