鼎 → 大畜
Hexagram 50: The Cauldron → Hexagram 26: Great Taming
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 4).
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 4
九四 鼎折足。覆公餗。其形渥。凶。
Nine in the fourth place means: The legs of the ting are broken. The prince's meal is spilled And his person is soiled. Misfortune. A man has a difficult and responsible task to which he is not adequate. Moreover, he does not devote himself to it with all his strength but goes about with inferior people; therefore the execution of the work fails. In this way he also incurs personal opprobrium. Confucius says about this line: "Weak character coupled with honored place, meager knowledge with large plans, limited powers with heavy responsibility, will seldom escape disaster. "
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
九子十夫，莫適與居。貞心不壹，自令老孤。
Nine sons and ten husbands, yet none will dwell with her. Her steadfast heart was not constant; she has made herself old and alone.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire over wind fills the cauldron; heaven stored within the mountain accumulates without release. Nine sons and ten husbands, yet none suitable to live with — the faithful heart cannot settle on one, and so she grows old alone. The verse depicts a woman surrounded by suitors or potential matches but unable to commit, her 'steadfast heart not unified,' scattering her devotion until nothing remains. The irony cuts deep: fidelity that refuses to focus becomes indistinguishable from fickleness. From The Cauldron to Great Taming, the transformation warns that accumulation without choice leads to paralysis. The mountain stores heaven's energy but never spends it. The cauldron cooks for many, but if no one sits down to eat, the feast goes cold.
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