升 → 頤
Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward → Hexagram 27: Nourishment
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 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 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
東龍冤獨，不知所觸。南北困窮，王子危急。
The eastern dragon, aggrieved and alone, knows not what it has struck against. North and south, pinched in distress; the prince is in dire peril.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wood grows within the earth, but the eastern dragon wanders alone and aggrieved, not knowing what obstacle it has struck or where to turn. North and south are alike trapped in hardship; a royal prince faces mortal danger with no ally in sight. The dragon, supreme symbol of sovereign power, is isolated and disoriented — a ruler's heir cut off from every direction and surrounded by peril. Mountain over thunder, the image of Nourishment, counsels careful speech and temperate sustenance. From Pushing Upward to Nourishment, the ascending impulse must learn what truly sustains life. The wandering prince, starved of allies and bereft of direction, discovers that upward movement without proper nourishment leads only to exhaustion.
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