Hexagram 42: Increase → Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning

Increase
Wind / Thunder
Difficulty at the Beginning
Water / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 6).

Line 6

上九 莫益之。或擊之。立心勿恆。凶。

no one
increases
zhīthis
huòsome
strike(s)
zhīthis
(to) establish
xīnheart
not at all
héngconstancy
xiōng(is) ill-omened

Nine at the top means: He brings increase to no one. Indeed, someone even strikes him. He does not keep his heart constantly steady. Misfortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWind WaterThe Gentle → The Deep
Lower TrigramThunder Thunder

Yilin Verse

伯虎仲熊,德義淵聞。使敷五教,陰陽順序。

Bo Hu and Zhong Xiong, their virtue and righteousness deeply renowned. They spread the five teachings; yin and yang followed proper order.

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

Commentary

Wind and thunder bestow increase, and the transformation leads to clouds and thunder gathering at the threshold of new beginnings. Bohu and Zhongxiong — members of the Eight Worthies of the High Xin clan — were renowned for virtue and righteousness heard far and wide. Emperor Shun appointed them to spread the Five Teachings, and yin and yang fell into proper order. According to the Zuo Zhuan, the High Xin clan produced eight talented sons whom the world called the 'Eight Worthies'; Shun elevated them to civilize the people through filial piety, fraternal duty, and trust. From Increase to Difficulty at the Beginning, the message is precise: even amid the chaos of a new order taking shape, appointing the right educators transforms confusion into civilization. The thunder below the clouds signals the first stirrings of a moral cosmos.

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