需 → 噬嗑
Hexagram 5: Waiting → Hexagram 21: Biting Through
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 2
九二 需于沙。小有言。終吉。
Nine in the second place means: Waiting on the sand. There is some gossip. The end brings good fortune.
Line 3
九三 需于泥。致寇至。
Nine in the third place means: Waiting in the mud Brings about the arrival of the enemy.
Line 4
六四 需于血。出自穴。
Six in the fourth place means: Waiting in blood. Get out of the pit.
Line 5
九五 需于酒食。貞吉。
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。
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
Yilin Verse
教羊牧兔，使魚捕鼠。任非其人，費日無功。
Teaching sheep to herd rabbits; sending fish to catch mice. Appointing the wrong person; days are wasted to no avail.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds above heaven give way to lightning and thunder biting through obstacles — yet the wrong teeth are applied. Teaching sheep to herd rabbits, sending fish to catch mice: every creature is assigned a task contrary to its nature. 'Employing the wrong person for the role wastes days without result.' The verse is a crisp parable of misgovernance: competence misplaced is competence destroyed. From Waiting to Biting Through, the transformation highlights the gap between having the mechanism of justice and wielding it correctly. Biting Through's image is lightning clarifying what thunder enforces — but when the enforcer is a fish chasing mice, the system bites nothing at all.
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