損 → 未濟
Hexagram 41: Decrease → Hexagram 64: Before Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 4).
Line 1
初九 已事遄往。无咎。酌損之。
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 4
六四 損其疾。使遄有喜。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: If a man deceases his faults, It makes the other hasten to come and rejoice. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
陰注陽疾，水離其室。舟楫大作，傷害黍稷。民飢於食，亦病心腹。
Yin rains and yang sickness; water leaves its channels. Boats and oars are put to great use; harming the millet and grain. The people starve for food; sickness also afflicts their hearts and bellies.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain above lake becomes fire above water — Before Completion, where elements remain out of alignment and the crossing is not yet made. Yin rains pour down, bringing yang illness; water breaks free of its channels. Boats and oars labor mightily, but the flood damages the grain. The people go hungry; heart and belly both ache. The verse depicts a world where nothing works as intended: rain that should nourish instead sickens, water that should stay contained instead overflows, boats built for crossing instead witness destruction. From Decrease to Before Completion, the mountain dissolves and the lake rises as fire and water refuse to interact properly. Before Completion means the fox has not yet crossed — the tail still drags in the water. Decrease's sacrifices have not been sufficient to bring the process to term; the crossing remains unfinished, and suffering continues.
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