需 → 睽
Hexagram 5: Waiting → Hexagram 38: Opposition
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5, 6).
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
齋具贖狸，不聽我辭。係於虎鬚，牽不得來。
Preparing the offering to ransom the civet cat; it does not heed my words. Tied to the tiger’s whiskers; pulling, it will not come.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds above heaven give way to fire and lake pulling apart in Opposition. Ritual goods are prepared to ransom a wildcat, but it refuses to heed one's words. Tied to a tiger's whiskers, the beast cannot be dragged forward. The scene is absurd and vivid: one attempts a solemn transaction with an uncooperative animal, then finds oneself entangled with something far more dangerous than intended. The wildcat (狸) resists negotiation; the tiger's whiskers resist force. From Waiting to Opposition, patient trust dissolves into mutual incomprehension: fire rises, lake descends, and nothing meets. Every approach is rebuffed — neither ceremony nor brute pulling can bridge a fundamental opposition of natures.
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