大有

Hexagram 5: Waiting → Hexagram 14: Great Possession

Waiting
Water / Heaven
大有
Great Possession
Fire / Heaven
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 4, 5, 6).

Line 4

六四 需于血。出自穴。

waiting
in
xuèblood
chūemerge
from
xuéthat

Six in the fourth place means: Waiting in blood. Get out of the pit.

Line 5

九五 需于酒食。貞吉。

waiting
amidst
jiǔwine
shífood
zhēnpersistence
promising

Nine in the fifth place means: Waiting at meat and drink. Perseverance brings good fortune.

Line 6

上六 入于穴。有不速之客三人來。敬之終吉。

entering
into
xuéa pit
yǒuwith
no
invitation
zhīextended to
visitors
sānthree
rénpeople
láiarrive
jìngto respect
zhīto them
zhōngwill end in
good fortune

Six at the top means: One falls into the pit. Three uninvited guests arrive. Honor them, and in the end there will be good fortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWater FireThe Deep → The Clinging
Lower TrigramHeaven Heaven

Yilin Verse

乘船渡濟,載水逢火。賴幸免禍,蒙我生全。

Boarding the boat to cross; carrying water, one meets fire. By fortunate grace, disaster is escaped; one is blessed to survive whole.

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

Commentary

Clouds above heaven, and below a boat crosses a river carrying water yet encountering fire — a paradox of elements. One rides through danger upon danger, yet escapes through fortune's grace: 'blessed by luck, spared from disaster, granted the fullness of life.' The image layers water (the crossing), water (the cargo), and fire (the unexpected hazard) into a scene where destruction seems inevitable but does not arrive. From Waiting to Great Possession, the transformation makes sense of the miracle: fire blazing in heaven is the image of supreme abundance. Passing through peril without harm, one emerges into the condition of having greatly — fortune not earned by caution but granted by alignment with heaven's generosity.

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