需 → 渙
Hexagram 5: Waiting → Hexagram 59: Dispersion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 6).
Line 1
初九 需于郊。利用恆。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Waiting in the meadow. It furthers one to abide in what endures. No blame.
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 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
追亡逐北，至止而得。稚叔相呼，反其室廬。
Chasing the fleeing, pursuing those who retreat; reaching the destination, one succeeds. The youngest and the uncle call to each other; they return to their home.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds above heaven scatter as wind moves over water in Dispersion. Pursuing the fleeing enemy northward, one catches them at the point of halting. Young brothers call to each other and return to their homes. The verse begins as military pursuit — chasing routed forces — but resolves into domestic reunion. The scattered are gathered, the dispersed return. 'Young and old call to one another' suggests family members separated by conflict finding each other in the aftermath. From Waiting to Dispersion, the paradox completes itself: what scatters also liberates. Wind over water breaks up rigidity, and in this breaking-apart, separated kin rediscover the path home. Dispersion, rightly timed, restores what accumulation had frozen in place.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store