震 → 遯
Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder → Hexagram 33: Retreat
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 震來虩虩。後笑言啞啞。吉。
Nine at the beginning means: Shock comes–oh, oh! Then follow laughing words–ha, ha! Good fortune.
Line 3
六三 震蘇蘇。震行无眚。
Six in the third place means: Shock comes and makes one distraught. If shock spurs to action One remains free of misfortune.
Line 5
六五 震往來厲。意无喪有事。
Six in the fifth place means: Shock goes hither and thither. Danger. However, nothing at all is lost. Yet there are things to be done.
Line 6
上六 震索索。視矍矍。征凶。震不于其躬。于其鄰。无咎。婚媾有言。
Six at the top means: Shock brings ruin and terrified gazing around. Going ahead brings misfortune. If it has not yet touched one's own body But has reached one's neighbor first, There is no blame. One's comrades have something to talk about.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
背地相憎，心志不同。如火與金，君猛臣慢。虎行兔伏。
Secretly despising each other behind their backs; hearts and wills at odds. Like fire and metal; the lord is fierce, the minister lax. The tiger walks; the rabbit hides.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder doubled meets heaven over mountain: shock transmuted into strategic withdrawal. Behind backs they despise each other, hearts and minds at odds. Like fire and metal — the lord is fierce while the minister is sluggish. The tiger prowls; the rabbit crouches. The incompatibility is elemental: fire melts metal, the aggressive ruler and the inert minister cancel each other's effectiveness. The tiger-rabbit pair suggests predator and prey sharing a court, an unsustainable arrangement. From The Arousing to Retreat, heaven above mountain, the verse describes exactly the conditions that mandate withdrawal. When mutual antagonism defines the ruler-minister relationship, the gentleman distances himself from petty men — not through hostility but through dignified separation. Retreat is not defeat but preservation.
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