震 → 師
Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder → Hexagram 7: The Army
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4).
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 2
六二 震來厲。億喪貝。躋于九陵。勿逐。七日得。
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。
Nine in the fourth place means: Shock is mired.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
一莖九纏，更相牽攣。宿明俯仰，不得東西。請獻當報，日中被刑。
One stem tangled nine times, pulling and binding each to each. Dawn and dusk bowing and rising, unable to go east or west. Offerings presented as repayment due; at midday, punishment falls.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder doubled transforms into earth over water: shock becomes disciplined order. A single stem entangled in nine coils, each pulling the other — looking up and bowing down from dawn to dusk, unable to move east or west. One offers tribute expecting reward, but is punished at noon instead. The verse describes total entrapment: obligations bind like vines, every direction blocked, and even proper deference earns only punishment. The phrase 'punished at noon' (日中被刑) may echo the ancient practice of public execution at midday. From The Arousing to The Army, the transformation channels chaotic entanglement into military discipline. Water within the earth contains the multitude — but containment also means that the individual's freedom is sacrificed to collective order.
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