姤 → 損
Hexagram 44: Coming to Meet → Hexagram 41: Decrease
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 5).
Line 1
初六 繫于金柅。貞吉。有攸往。見凶。羸豕孚蹢躅。
Six at the beginning means: It must be checked with a brake of bronze. Perseverance brings good fortune. If one lets it take its course, one experiences misfortune. Even a lean pig has it in him to rage around.
Line 3
九三 臀无膚。其行次且。厲。无大咎。
Nine in the third place means: There is no skin on his thighs, And walking comes hard. If one is mindful of the danger, No great mistake is made.
Line 4
九四 包无魚。起凶。
Nine in the fourth place means: No fish in the tank. This leads to misfortune.
Line 5
九五 以杞包瓜。含章。有隕自天。
Nine in the fifth place means: A melon covered with willow leaves. Hidden lines. Then it drops down to one from heave.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
夢飯不飽，酒未入口。嬰女雖好，媒鴈不許。
Dreaming of a meal that does not fill; wine that never reaches the lips. The young woman is lovely, yet the matchmaker's geese are refused.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind beneath heaven conjures illusions that vanish upon reaching. Dreaming of a meal that never satiates, wine that never touches the lips; a beautiful maiden admired but the matchmaker's geese are refused. Every image is of desire arrested at the threshold — food that cannot nourish, wine that cannot be tasted, marriage that cannot proceed. The verse is a study in frustrated longing: all the elements of fulfillment are present, yet none can be grasped. From Coming to Meet to Decrease, the mountain rises above the lake as restraint curbs desire. Gou's encounter produces attraction but not consummation; Decrease counsels that wanting less may be wiser than reaching for what perpetually recedes.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store