Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward → Hexagram 45: Gathering Together

Pushing Upward
Earth / Wind
Gathering Together
Lake / Earth
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5).

Line 2

九二 孚乃利用禴。无咎。

sincerity
nǎiis
the real worth
yòngin
yuèthe modest

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。

shēngadvancing on
empty
town

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。

wángthe sovereign
yòngwill make
hēngoffering(s)
to
Split
shānMountain
promising
not(hing) (is)
jiùwrong

Six in the fourth place means: The king offers him Mount Ch'i. Good fortune. No blame.

Line 5

六五 貞吉升階。

zhēnpersistence
promising
shēngthe advance
jiēby in steps

Six in the fifth place means: Perseverance brings good fortune. One pushes upward by steps.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramEarth LakeThe Receptive → The Joyous
Lower TrigramWind EarthThe Gentle → The Receptive

Yilin Verse

從首至足,部分為六。室家離散,逐南乞食。

From head to foot, divided into six parts. The household is scattered and torn apart; driven southward, begging for food.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Wood grows within the earth, but the body is divided from head to foot into six parts, and the family scatters in all directions. The survivors flee southward, begging for food along the road. The dismemberment of the body into six sections mirrors the dissolution of the household: what should be one organic whole is fragmented beyond recognition or repair. Lake over earth, the image of Gathering, should draw people together into community. From Pushing Upward to Gathering, the ascent should culminate in convergence. Yet here the gathering fails utterly — instead of converging, the family disperses to the winds. The wood that rose through unified earth now splinters, and the six severed parts find no center to hold them together.

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