Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder → Hexagram 60: Limitation

The Arousing Thunder
Thunder / Thunder
Limitation
Water / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 5).

Line 2

六二 震來厲。億喪貝。躋于九陵。勿逐。七日得。

zhènthe thunder
láibrings (about)
difficulty
a hundred thousand
sànglost
bèibelongings
and climb
up
jiǔnine
línghill
do not
zhúpursue

Six in the second place means: Shock comes bringing danger. A hundred thousand times You lose your treasures And must climb the nine hills. Do not go in pursuit of them. After seven days you will get them back again.

Line 4

九四 震遂泥。

zhènthe thunder
suìis followed by
mud

Nine in the fourth place means: Shock is mired.

Line 5

六五 震往來厲。意无喪有事。

zhènthe thunder
wǎngin
láiand
is difficult
the meaning
is not
sànglost
yǒuhaving
shìwork to do

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.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramThunder WaterThe Arousing → The Deep
Lower TrigramThunder LakeThe Arousing → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

東行西步,失其次舍。乾侯野井,昭君喪居。

North wind, lost on the road — snow covers all tracks. East, west, south, north — no door anywhere. Seeking shelter at a farmhouse, the farmhouse is locked. Only a bare pavilion remains, to hide from the darkening night.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Thunder doubled meets water over lake: shock constrained into the boundaries of Limitation. The original verse reads: 'Going east and stepping west, losing one's lodging. At Qianhou, by a field-well — the lord of Lu has lost his home.' This alludes to Duke Zhao of Lu, who was driven from his state by the powerful Ji clan around 517 BC and wandered in exile, staying at Qianhou under Jin's jurisdiction. 'Field-well' (野井) marks the place where the Duke of Qi offered condolences — outside proper diplomatic space. From The Arousing to Limitation, water contained by the lake, the verse captures exile as a failure of limits: the ruler who could not limit his ministers' power loses everything. Limitation cuts both ways — the one who cannot set boundaries becomes defined by others'.

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