艮 → 大畜
Hexagram 52: Keeping Still Mountain → Hexagram 26: Great Taming
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 2).
Line 1
初六 艮其趾。无咎。利永貞。
Six at the beginning means: Keeping his toes still. No blame. Continued perseverance furthers.
Line 2
六二 艮其腓。不拯其隨。其心不快。
Six in the second place means: Keeping his calves still. He cannot rescue him whom he follows. His heart is not glad.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
踧行竊視，有所畏避。狸首伏藏，以夜為利。
Creeping forward, stealing glances, something to fear and to shun. The wildcat hides and lies in wait, taking the night for its advantage.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Twin mountains stand still, and beneath their shadow a figure creeps with furtive steps and stolen glances, avoiding something feared. Like a wildcat, head low, it hides by day and uses the night to its advantage. The verse paints a creature — or person — reduced to stealth by overwhelming threat. Every movement is cautious; visibility is danger. From Keeping Still to Great Taming, mountain yields to heaven stored within the mountain. Great Taming accumulates power through patient restraint, studying the past to build moral reserves. The verse's skulking figure is the dark inversion of this: instead of storing virtue in stillness, it stores only fear. Concealment without cultivation is survival without dignity.
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