大畜

Hexagram 40: Deliverance → Hexagram 26: Great Taming

Deliverance
Thunder / Water
大畜
Great Taming
Mountain / Heaven
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 6).

Line 1

初六 无咎。

no
jiùblame

Six at the beginning means: Without blame.

Line 3

六三 負且乘。致寇至。貞吝。

shouldering
qiěwhile
chéngmounted
zhìinviting
kòuthieves
zhìto approach
zhēnpersistence
lìn(is) embarrassing

Six in the third place means: If a man carries a burden on his back And nonetheless rides in a carriage, He thereby encourages robbers to draw near. Perseverance leads to humiliation.

Line 4

九四 解而拇。朋至斯孚。

jiěrelease
éryour
big toe
péng(when) companion
zhìapproach
(in
trust

Nine in the fourth place means: Deliver yourself from your great toe. Then the companion comes, And him you can trust.

Line 6

上六 公用射隼于高墉之上。獲之无不利。

gōng(the) duke
yòngtakes
shè(his) aim at
sǔn(a
up on
gāo(a
yōngbattlement
zhī...'s
shàngpeak
huò(to) succeed(ing)
zhī(is) here
without
doubt
worthwhile

Six at the top means: The prince shoots at a hawk on a high wall. He kills it. Everything serves to further.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramThunder MountainThe Arousing → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramWater HeavenThe Deep → The Creative

Yilin Verse

胎養萌生,始見兆形。遭逢雷電,摧角折頸。采䖟山頭,終安不傾。

The embryo stirs and the sprout emerges; first the sign, then the form. Meeting thunder and lightning, horns shatter and neck breaks. Yet gathering herbs on the hilltop, it stands secure and does not topple.

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

Commentary

Thunder over water releases into heaven stored within the mountain — the vast accumulation of Great Taming. An embryo begins to form, a sprout just showing its first shape. Then lightning and thunder strike, breaking horns and snapping necks — violent disruption of what was barely begun. Yet the verse resolves: gathering herbs atop the mountain, one is ultimately safe and does not topple. From Deliverance to Great Taming, the transformation shows how nascent potential survives catastrophic shock through deep reserves. Heaven within the mountain absorbs the blow; what began as a fragile seedling, battered by storm, endures because the mountain's stored strength holds firm beneath it.

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