漸 → 无妄
Hexagram 53: Development → Hexagram 25: Innocence
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4).
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 4
六四 鴻漸于木。或得其桷。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: The wild goose goes gradually draws near the tree. Perhaps it will find a flat branch. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
絕域異路，多所畏惡。使我驚懼，思吾故處。
In far-flung lands on strange roads, much that fills one with dread. It makes me tremble with fear, longing for the place I knew.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind over mountain meets heaven above thunder: gradual development stumbles into the unexpected territory of Innocence. Strange lands and alien paths breed fear and loathing on every side. Terror grips the traveler, who longs for the familiar home. The verse captures the visceral shock of displacement: what was known and gradual gives way to the radically unfamiliar. From Development to Innocence, the transformation is jarring. Innocence demands acting without ulterior motive, yet the traveler here is paralyzed by strangeness. Heaven's thunder shakes the ground beneath all creatures, stripping away calculation. The traveler's longing for home is itself an honest, innocent response to a world that has suddenly become unintelligible. Gradual progress means nothing in territory where the rules have changed entirely.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store