萃 → 師
Hexagram 45: Gathering Together → Hexagram 7: The Army
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 5).
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 4
九四 大吉无咎。
Nine in the fourth place means: Great good fortune. No blame.
Line 5
九五 萃有位。无咎匪孚。元永貞。悔亡。
Nine in the fifth place means: If in gathering together one has position, This brings no blame. If there are some who are not yet sincerely in the work, Sublime and enduring perseverance is needed. Then remorse disappears.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
家在海隅，橈短深流。伯氏難行，无目以趨。
Home lies at the sea's edge; the oar is short, the current deep. The elder brother struggles to proceed; without eyes, he gropes his way.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake upon earth transforms into water hidden within the earth, the disciplined mass of the Army. A household stands at the sea's edge, but the oars are short and the current runs deep. The elder brother cannot travel, for he has no eyes to see the way. The verse paints isolation compounded by incapacity: living at the remote coast, equipped with inadequate tools, led by someone who lacks vision. From Gathering to the Army, the transformation underscores that marshaling collective force requires both able leadership and proper equipment. A blind commander with short oars on a deep current is the anti-image of the Army's ideal: disciplined water contained within earth, channeled by a clear-sighted general. When gathering lacks direction, it becomes mere stranding.
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