漸 → 剝
Hexagram 53: Development → Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 5, 6).
Line 5
九五 鴻漸于陵。婦三歲不孕。終莫之勝。吉。
Nine in the fifth place means: The wild goose gradually draws near the summit. For three years the woman has no child. In the end nothing can hinder her. Good fortune.
Line 6
上九 鴻漸于陸。其羽可用為儀。吉。
Nine at the top means: The wild goose gradually draws near the clouds heights. Its feathers can be used for the sacred dance. Good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
履階登墀，高升峻巍。福祿洋溢，依天之威。
Treading the stairs, mounting the terrace; ascending to lofty heights. Fortune and blessing overflow, resting in heaven's majesty.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind over mountain meets mountain resting on earth: gradual development ascends the ceremonial steps. Climbing the stairs and mounting the terrace, rising to lofty and majestic heights. Blessings and prosperity overflow, supported by heaven's awesome power. The verse describes a formal ascent, step by step, to the highest platform of honor. From Development to Splitting Apart, the imagery is paradoxically triumphant for a hexagram whose dynamic is erosion from below. Yet the ascent itself embodies the moment just before the summit crumbles: the mountain rests upon the earth, and its highest point is most vulnerable. The verse's confidence in heaven's backing may be precisely the hubris that precedes the stripping away. Gradual elevation, at its peak, borders on precariousness.
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