姤 → 需
Hexagram 44: Coming to Meet → Hexagram 5: Waiting
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 6).
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 4
九四 包无魚。起凶。
Nine in the fourth place means: No fish in the tank. This leads to misfortune.
Line 6
上九 姤其角。吝。无咎。
Nine at the top means: He comes to meet with his horns. Humiliation. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
結珠懷履，卑斯以鬼，為君奴婢。
Stringing pearls, cherishing worn shoes; humbled thus by ghosts, made a slave to the lord.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind beneath heaven stirs, but what arrives is bondage, not blessing. Pearls are strung and shoes are worn at court, yet the one who carries them is debased by spirits and reduced to a slave. The verse depicts a figure bearing precious tokens of rank — jeweled ornaments and formal footwear — who is nonetheless dragged down into servitude. 'Lowered by ghosts' suggests supernatural misfortune or the machinations of unseen powers. From Coming to Meet to Waiting, clouds gather above heaven: one who waits under threat must endure without acting rashly. The encounter promised by Gou delivers not partnership but subjugation, and the only recourse is patient endurance until the danger passes overhead.
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