鼎 → 同人
Hexagram 50: The Cauldron → Hexagram 13: Fellowship
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5).
Line 1
初六 鼎顛趾。利出否。得妾以其子。无咎。
Six at the beginning means: A ting with legs upturned. Furthers removal of stagnating stuff. One takes a concubine for the sake of her son. No blame.
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 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
羅張目決，圍合耦缺，魚鳥生脫。
The net is spread, its mesh torn open; the encirclement closes but the coupling breaks. Fish and birds escape alive.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire over wind fills the cauldron; heaven and fire rise together in Fellowship. Nets are spread and mesh tightened, the encirclement nearly complete — yet a gap remains in the paired formation, and fish and birds slip free. The scene is a hunt where the quarry escapes through an opening in what should have been a seamless cordon. The encirclement looks perfect but its joints are flawed: paired nets fail to close, and life wriggles through. From The Cauldron to Fellowship, the transformation suggests that perfect containment is neither possible nor desirable. Heaven and fire both rise — true fellowship requires openness, not capture. The net with a gap may be wiser than the net drawn tight.
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