鼎 → 兌
Hexagram 50: The Cauldron → Hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5, 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 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.
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
成王多寵，商人惶恐。生其禍心，使君危殆。
The accomplished king bestows too much favor; the merchants tremble with dread. It breeds treacherous hearts, placing the sovereign in mortal peril.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire over wind fills the cauldron; doubled lakes reflect each other in The Joyous. 'King Cheng lavished excessive favor, and the Shang people grew fearful.' Alarmed hearts bred seditious intent, placing the sovereign in mortal danger. This likely references the early Zhou crisis after King Wu's death, when the young King Cheng's regency was challenged. The 'Shang people' — remnants of the conquered dynasty — grew restive under policies they could not trust. Excessive royal indulgence, rather than pacifying, bred suspicion and rebellion. From The Cauldron to The Joyous, the transformation warns that joy without boundaries corrupts. Doubled lakes overflow: pleasure shared recklessly generates not gratitude but conspiracy. The cauldron's generosity, poured too freely, drowns those it meant to nourish.
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