萃 → 訟
Hexagram 45: Gathering Together → Hexagram 6: Conflict
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 2, 6).
Line 2
六二 引吉无咎。孚乃利用禴。
Six in the second place means: Letting oneself be drawn Brings good fortune and remains blameless. If one is sincere, It furthers one to bring even a small offering.
Line 6
上六 齎咨涕洟。无咎。
Six at the top means: Lamenting and sighing, floods of tears. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
亡錐失斧，公輸无輔。抱其彝器，適君子處。
Losing the awl and axe; Gongshu is without aid. Clutching his ritual vessels, he goes to where the noble man dwells.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake upon earth yields to heaven moving contrary to water, the image of Conflict. The awl is lost, the axe gone: Gongshu Ban himself is left without tools. Yet rather than despairing, he grasps his ritual vessels and goes to where the worthy lord resides. Gongshu Ban, better known as Lu Ban, is the patron saint of Chinese carpentry, yet even the supreme craftsman is helpless without his instruments. The verse pivots: stripped of practical means, he carries what truly matters, the sacred bronzes, the symbols of legitimacy and civilizational continuity, to a worthy patron. From Gathering to Conflict, the transformation suggests that when collective resources scatter, one must discern what to preserve and seek proper arbitration rather than cling to lost tools.
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