解 → 夬
Hexagram 40: Deliverance → Hexagram 43: Breakthrough
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5).
Line 1
初六 无咎。
Six at the beginning means: Without blame.
Line 3
六三 負且乘。致寇至。貞吝。
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 5
六五 君子維有解。吉。有孚于小人。
Six in the fifth place means: If only the superior man can deliver himself, It brings good fortune. Thus he proves to inferior men that he is in earnest.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
堅冰黃鳥，終日悲號。不見白粒，但觀蓬蒿。數驚鷙鳥。孰為我憂？
Hard ice and a yellow bird, crying in sorrow all day long. No white grain to be seen, only brambles and weeds. Hawks startle again and again — who will grieve for me?
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder over water shatters upward as the lake rising to heaven — the decisive breakthrough. Solid ice, yellow birds crying sorrowfully all day long. No white grain is seen, only weeds and brambles. Startled raptors wheel repeatedly — who will grieve for me? The verse layers images of desolation: winter ice, lamenting birds, barren fields overrun with brush, predators circling above. From Deliverance to Breakthrough, the transformation demands decisive action against accumulated negativity. The lake overflows heaven's boundary, washing away what must go. Yet the verse's tone is elegiac rather than triumphant — the breakthrough reveals devastation, and the speaker stands alone amid the ruins asking who cares.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store