損 → 頤
Hexagram 41: Decrease → Hexagram 27: Nourishment
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 2).
Line 2
九二 利貞。征凶。弗損益之。
Nine in the second place means: Perseverance furthers. To undertake something brings misfortune. Without decreasing oneself, One is able to bring increase to others.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
十丸同投，為雉所維。獨得跳脫，完全不虧。
Ten pellets thrown together; caught in the pheasant's snare. Alone, one leaps free; whole and complete, suffering no loss.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain above lake transforms into mountain above thunder — Nourishment, where the mouth opens and closes to sustain life. Ten pellets are thrown together, but a pheasant snares them all. Only one escapes independently, remaining whole and undiminished. The verse reads like a gambling scene: ten tokens cast, nine captured, one free. The surviving pellet owes its freedom to autonomous movement — it jumped clear while the rest were netted. From Decrease to Nourishment, the lake transforms into thunder beneath the mountain, the jaw's motion of chewing and selection. Nourishment is about choosing what to take in and what to reject. The lone survivor represents the one who decreases attachment to the group, preserving integrity through independence rather than being consumed alongside the herd.
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