需 → 大畜
Hexagram 5: Waiting → Hexagram 26: Great Taming
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 5, 6).
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
鳥升鵲舉，照臨東海。龍降庭堅，為陶叔後。封圻英六，履祿綏厚。
The bird soars, the magpie rises; shining over the Eastern Sea. The dragon descends at Tingjian; becoming ancestor of Lord Taoshu. Enfeoffed at Ying and Liu; treading on blessings, emolument thick and generous.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds above heaven concentrate into heaven stored within the mountain — Great Taming's vast reserve. Birds ascend and magpies rise, their light shining over the Eastern Sea. A dragon descends to Tingjian, becoming the ancestor of Lord Tao, whose descendants were enfeoffed at Ying and Liu with rich emoluments. The verse traces a lineage from celestial omen to earthly reward: Tingjian likely refers to Gao Yao (皋陶), the legendary minister of justice whose descendants received the fiefdoms of Ying and Liu. 'Lord Tao' may be a variant title for this lineage. From Waiting to Great Taming, patient nourishment transforms into accumulated virtue across generations — heaven stored in the mountain as ancestral merit laid down for posterity.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store