需 → 頤
Hexagram 5: Waiting → Hexagram 27: Nourishment
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 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 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
危坐至暮，請求不得。膏澤不降，政戾民忒。
Sitting upright until nightfall; petitions are not granted. Rich bounty does not descend; governance errs, the people go astray.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds above heaven descend to the mountain holding still above thunder — Nourishment's image of careful tending. Yet here the feeding fails: one sits upright in formal posture until evening, petitioning without success. Nourishing moisture does not fall; governance goes astray and the people suffer. The image is of a supplicant waiting in rigid ceremony for relief that never comes — a ruler or official who follows form but produces no substance. 'Rich dew does not descend' inverts the promise of Waiting's clouds. From Waiting to Nourishment, the irony is precise: the hexagram of feeding is reached, but nothing is fed. The mountain sits upon the thunder, and the mouth that should nourish remains shut.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store