鼎 → 否
Hexagram 50: The Cauldron → Hexagram 12: Standstill
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5).
Line 2
九二 鼎有實。我仇有疾。不我能即。吉。
Nine in the second place means: There is food in the ting. My comrades are envious, But they cannot harm me. Good fortune.
Line 3
九三 鼎耳革。其行塞。雉膏不食。方雨虧悔。終吉。
Nine in the third place means: The handle of the ting is altered. One is impeded in his way of life. The fat of the pheasant is not eaten. Once rain falls, remorse is spent. Good fortune comes in the end.
Line 5
六五 鼎黃耳金鉉。利貞。
Six in the fifth place means: The ting has yellow handles, golden carrying rings. Perseverance furthers.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
大屋之下，朝多君子。德施博育，宋受其福。
Beneath the great hall, the morning court gathers many gentlemen. Virtue is spread and broadly nurtured; Song receives its blessings.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire over wind fills the cauldron, yet heaven and earth cease their exchange in Standstill. Beneath a great roof, the morning court is filled with gentlemen. Virtue radiates broadly, nurturing all, and Song receives its blessing. The 'great house' likely evokes the ancestral hall of Song, the state that preserved Shang ritual traditions. The verse presents an idealized court where worthy men gather under benevolent governance. Yet the transformation target is Standstill — heaven above, earth below, no communication between them. From The Cauldron to Standstill, the paradox sharpens: even the most virtuous assembly exists within a structure where connection may freeze. The blessing Song receives may be the last gift before the channels close.
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