鼎 → 大壯
Hexagram 50: The Cauldron → Hexagram 34: Great Power
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 6).
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 6
上九 鼎玉鉉。大吉。无不利。
Nine at the top means: The ting has rings of jade. Great good fortune. Nothing that would not act to further.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
朝露白日，四馬過隙。歲短期促，時難再得。
Morning dew in white sunlight; four horses flash past the gap. The year is short, the appointed time presses; such moments cannot be had again.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire over wind fills the cauldron; thunder roars above heaven with Great Power. Morning dew under white sunlight, four horses flash past a crack in the wall. The year is short, the appointed time presses — moments once gone cannot be recaptured. Two classical metaphors for life's brevity converge: dew that vanishes with the sun, and the 'white colt passing a gap' from Zhuangzi. The four horses amplify the speed — not one but four steeds racing past the aperture. From The Cauldron to Great Power, the transformation reveals an urgent paradox: thunder above heaven represents maximum force, yet force cannot slow time. The cauldron refines, but the refined moment evaporates instantly. Great Power's thunder is deafening — and still the dew dries.
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