未濟

Hexagram 52: Keeping Still Mountain → Hexagram 64: Before Completion

Keeping Still Mountain
Mountain / Mountain
䷿
未濟
Before Completion
Fire / Water
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

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

Line 2

六二 艮其腓。不拯其隨。其心不快。

gènstillness
in one's own
féicalves
this does
zhěnghelping
in
suípursuits
this one's
xīnheart
is not
kuàihappy

Six in the second place means: Keeping his calves still. He cannot rescue him whom he follows. His heart is not glad.

Line 3

九三 艮其限。列其夤。厲熏心。

gènstill
in
xiànboundaries
lièseparate
up in
yínloins
harshness
xūnchoke
xīnthe heart

Nine in the third place means: Keeping his hips still. Making his sacrum stiff. Dangerous. The heart suffocates.

Line 4

六四 艮其身。无咎。

gènstillness
in
shēnselfhood
no
jiùblame

Six in the fourth place means: Keeping his trunk still. No blame.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramMountain FireKeeping Still → The Clinging
Lower TrigramMountain WaterKeeping Still → The Deep

Yilin Verse

公孫駕驪,載遊東齊。延陵說產,遺季紵衣。

The black colt gallops past the wayside pavilion. In the carriage, a qin, wine, and classics. Along the way, scattering wealth to aid the poor — returning with an empty cart, the name lighter still.

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

Commentary

Twin mountains stand still. The original verse reads: Gongsun drives a black horse east to Qi. Ji Zha of Yanling gives away his estate and presents a ramie garment to a friend. The verse pairs two exemplars of aristocratic generosity. Ji Zha, the prince of Wu who repeatedly declined the throne, was renowned for integrity and selfless giving. According to the Zuo Zhuan, he exchanged garments with Zi Chan of Zheng during a diplomatic visit in 544 BC — a gesture of mutual respect between two of the era's finest statesmen. From Keeping Still to Before Completion, mountain yields to fire above water, elements not yet aligned. The verse's generous departures embody this unfinished quality: gifts given and journeys begun, but the destination still distant. Generosity is the first act of a transformation whose completion lies beyond the frame.

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