萃 → 小畜
Hexagram 45: Gathering Together → Hexagram 9: Small Taming
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 6).
Line 1
初六 有孚不終。乃亂乃萃。若號一握為笑。勿恤。往无咎。
Six at the beginning means: If you are sincere, but not to the end, There will sometimes be confusion, sometimes gathering together. If you call out, Then after one grasp of the hand you can laugh again. Regret not. Going is without blame.
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 3
六三 萃如嗟如。无攸利。往无咎。小吝。
Six in the third place means: Gathering together amid sighs. Nothing that would further. Going is without blame. Slight humiliation.
Line 4
九四 大吉无咎。
Nine in the fourth place means: Great good fortune. No blame.
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
筐傾筥覆，喪我公粒。簡伯无禮，太師正食。
The basket tips, the hamper overturns; we lose our lord's grain. Jian Bo shows no propriety; the Grand Preceptor corrects the rations.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake upon earth gives way to wind riding above heaven, where small accumulation meets great force. The baskets tip and overturn, spilling the lord's grain. Jian Bo lacks propriety, and the Grand Musician corrects the meal ceremony. The verse depicts ritual order disrupted: food containers upset, provisions lost, a minister behaving improperly at a formal occasion. The Grand Musician (Taishi) stepping in to correct the feast protocol reflects the ancient practice where court musicians enforced ritual propriety at state banquets. From Gathering to Small Taming, the transformation shows how even modest restraining influence can redirect what has gone awry. When the gathered feast descends into impropriety, gentle correction, like wind over heaven, restores order without force.
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