Hexagram 41: Decrease → Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind

Decrease
Mountain / Lake
The Gentle Wind
Wind / Wind
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 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 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 WindThe Joyous → The Gentle

Yilin Verse

太姒文母,乃生聖子。昌發受命,為天下主。

Great Lady Si, the Cultured Mother; she bore a sage son. Chang and Fa received the mandate; becoming masters of all under heaven.

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

Commentary

Mountain above lake yields to doubled wind — the Gentle, where penetrating influence spreads through quiet persistence. Tai Si, the 'Cultured Mother,' bore sagely sons: Chang and Fa received heaven's mandate and became rulers of all under heaven. Tai Si was the wife of King Wen of Zhou and mother of King Wu (Fa) and the Duke of Zhou. The Shijing praises her as inheriting the fine reputation of her mother-in-law Tai Ren. From Decrease to the Gentle, the mountain dissolves into doubled wind — influence that penetrates without force. Tai Si's contribution was not military or political but generative: she 'decreased' herself into the background, yet her sons' virtue radiated through the entire realm. The Gentle's doubled wind is maternal influence replicated across generations.

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