夬 → 漸
Hexagram 43: Breakthrough → Hexagram 53: Development
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 6).
Line 1
初九 壯于前趾。往不勝為咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Mighty in the forward-striding toes. When one goes and is not equal to the task, One makes a mistake.
Line 2
九二 惕號。莫夜有戎。勿恤。
Nine in the second place means: A cry of alarm. Arms at evening and at night. Fear nothing.
Line 4
九四 臀无膚。其行次且。牽羊悔亡。聞言不信。
Nine in the fourth place means: There is no skin on his thighs, And walking comes hard. If a man were to let himself be led like a sheep, Remorse would disappear. But if these words are heard They will not be believed.
Line 6
上六 无號。終有凶。
Six at the top means: No cry. In the end misfortune comes.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
俊辭解謝，除去垢污。驚之成患，嬰氏醳殘。
With fine words one begs pardon, removing filth and stain. But alarm becomes calamity; the infant suffers lingering harm.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake risen above heaven develops into the trees growing on the mountain. Eloquent words of apology and explanation wash away stain and impurity. But alarm creates complications, and the Ying clan's cruelty is only partially relieved. The verse traces a partial remedy: fine rhetoric clears the surface dirt, but the underlying disturbance remains. The 'Ying clan' may allude to the Qin royal house (whose surname was Ying), suggesting that even eloquent diplomacy cannot fully undo systemic violence. From Breakthrough to Development, the decisive break should lead to the gradual, step-by-step progress of trees growing on the mountain slope. But the verse warns that gradual growth still carries residual damage — the stain is washed but the wound lingers, and true development requires more than verbal elegance.
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