蒙 → 師
Hexagram 4: Youthful Folly → Hexagram 7: The Army
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 6).
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
小狐渡水，污濡其尾。利得無幾，與道合契。
The small fox crosses the water, wetting and soiling its tail. The profit gained is hardly worth the effort; yet it accords with the Way.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A spring beneath the mountain watches a small fox attempt to cross the stream. The little fox wades in but wets its tail — gains are meager, yet the outcome aligns with the proper Way. The image of the fox crossing water appears in the I-Ching's final hexagram, Wei Ji (Before Completion), where the young fox nearly crosses but soaks its tail at the last moment. Here the lesson is gentler: small profit, small risk, and the result still accords with principle. From Youthful Folly to The Army, the transformation suggests that discipline emerges from modest failures. Water hidden within the earth marshals its forces quietly; the young fox's wet tail teaches restraint before it commands troops.
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