升 → 噬嗑
Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward → Hexagram 21: Biting Through
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 6).
Line 1
初六 允升大吉。
Six at the beginning means: Pushing upward that meets with confidence Brings great good fortune.
Line 2
九二 孚乃利用禴。无咎。
Nine in the second place means: If one is sincere, It furthers one to bring even a small offering. No blame.
Line 3
九三 升虛邑。
Nine in the third place means: One pushes upward into an empty city.
Line 4
六四 王用亨于岐山。吉。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: The king offers him Mount Ch'i. Good fortune. No blame.
Line 6
上六 冥升。利于不息之貞。
Six at the top means: Pushing upward in darkness. It furthers one To be unremittingly persevering.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
金城銕郭，上下同力。政平民親，寇不敢賊。
Walls of gold, ramparts of iron; above and below, united in strength. Governance is just, the people are loyal; bandits dare not plunder.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wood grows within the earth, and walls of gold and ramparts of iron stand impervious to all assault. High and low unite their strength in common purpose; governance is fair, the people draw near with trust, and no bandit dares transgress these borders. The 'metal city and iron walls' is a classical metaphor for an impregnable stronghold built on the solidarity of ruler and ruled rather than mere military force. Fire over thunder, the image of Biting Through, enforces order by removing the obstruction that blocks the jaws. From Pushing Upward to Biting Through, the steady accumulation of moral authority creates a polity so cohesive that external threats dissolve before contact. Gradual growth yields an unbreakable governance.
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