Hexagram 41: Decrease → Hexagram 53: Development

Decrease
Mountain / Lake
Development
Wind / Mountain
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 5).

Line 1

初九 已事遄往。无咎。酌損之。

one's (own)
shìaffairs
chuán(are) rushed
wǎngto go
no
jiùblame
zhuó(but) weigh
sǔndecreasing
zhī(of) this

Nine at the beginning means: Going quickly when one's tasks are finished Is without blame. But one must reflect on how much one may decrease others.

Line 2

九二 利貞。征凶。弗損益之。

(it is) worthwhile
zhēnto persist
zhēng(but) to expedite
xiōng(is) ill-omened
(there is) neither
sǔn(of
(nor
zhīhere

Nine in the second place means: Perseverance furthers. To undertake something brings misfortune. Without decreasing oneself, One is able to bring increase to others.

Line 3

六三 三人行。則損一人。一人行。則得其友。

sānthree
rénpeople
xíngstart
(and) then
sǔndecrease
(by) one
rénperson
(this) one
rénperson
xíngstarts
(and) then
finds
the
yǒucompanion

Six in the third place means: When three people journey together, Their number decreases by one. When one man journeys alone, He finds a companion.

Line 5

六五 或益之十朋之龜。弗克違。元吉。

huòsomebody
increases
zhī(to) (this) one
shí(by) ten
péng(matched) pairs
zhīof
guītortoise
(one) (is) not
able
wéi(of
yuánmost
promising

Six in the fifth place means: Someone does indeed increase him. Ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it. Supreme good fortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramMountain WindKeeping Still → The Gentle
Lower TrigramLake MountainThe Joyous → Keeping Still

Yilin Verse

呼精靈來,魄生无憂。疾病愈瘳,解我患愁。

Calling the vital spirits to come; the soul is born anew without worry. Illness healed and cured; dissolving my grief and sorrow.

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

Commentary

Mountain above lake gives way to wind above mountain — Development, where growth proceeds gradually like a tree on a mountainside. Spirits are summoned and the soul is called back; the vital force is reborn without sorrow. Illness heals and suffering ends; worries and anxieties dissolve. The verse describes a shamanic healing ritual: calling the wandering spirit home, restoring the patient's vitality. From Decrease to Development, the lake becomes wind that rises through the mountain's trees — slow, organic growth replacing the lake's downward drainage. Development's key quality is gradual restoration: the goose alighting step by step, the tree growing ring by ring. The healing ritual enacts exactly this tempo. Decrease removed the illness by stripping it away; Development rebuilds health through patient, incremental return of the life force.

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