漸 → 復
Hexagram 53: Development → Hexagram 24: Return
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 鴻漸于干。小子厲有言。無咎。
Six at the beginning means: The wild goose gradually draws near the shore. The young son is in danger. There is talk. No blame.
Line 3
九三 鴻漸于陸。夫征不復。婦孕不育。凶。利禦寇。
Nine in the third place means: The wild goose gradually draws near the plateau. The man goes forth and does not return. The woman carries a child but does not bring it forth. Misfortune. It furthers one to fight off robbers.
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
坤厚地德，庶物蕃息。平康正直，以綏大福。
Old trees put out new buds; the abandoned garden grows green again. Bees and butterflies gradually return — the flowers' promise is kept.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind over mountain gives way to earth over thunder: gradual development returns to the root. The original verse speaks of the earth's deep virtue and the flourishing of all creatures: 'The earth's thick virtue nurtures the myriad things in abundance; level, peaceful, upright, and straight, it secures great blessings.' From Development to Return, the tree that grew gradually on the mountain now sends its energy back into the soil. Thunder stirs beneath the earth at the winter solstice, the first yang line returning after complete yin. The verse's vision of universal flourishing through the earth's receptive power captures Return's essential dynamic: not reaching outward but turning inward, allowing the vital impulse to regenerate from the deepest ground.
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