Hexagram 53: Development → Hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake

Development
Wind / Mountain
The Joyous Lake
Lake / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 6).

Line 1

初六 鴻漸于干。小子厲有言。無咎。

hóngthe wild geese
jiàngradually advance
to
gānthe shoreline
xiǎothe little
child
having
yǒuthere is
yána talk
but no
jiùblame

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 2

六二 鴻漸于磐。飲食衎衎。吉。

hóngthe wild geese
jiàngradually advance
to
pánthe cliff
yǐnand
shíand eat
kànand honking
kànand honking
promising

Six in the second place means: The wild goose gradually draws near the cliff. Eating and drinking in peace and concord. Good fortune.

Line 3

九三 鴻漸于陸。夫征不復。婦孕不育。凶。利禦寇。

hóngthe wild goose
jiànadvances
to
the plateau
the husband
zhēngon expedition
on but is
to return
the wife
yùnconceives
but does
give birth
xiōngunfortunate
it is worthwhile
oppose
kòupredator

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。

hóngthe wild goose
jiànadvances
to
the trees [on the mountain: ban xiang]
huòsomehow
to find
one
juéthe flat
no
jiùblame

Six in the fourth place means: The wild goose goes gradually draws near the tree. Perhaps it will find a flat branch. No blame.

Line 6

上九 鴻漸于陸。其羽可用為儀。吉。

hóngthe wild geese
jiàngradually advance
together to
the plateau
their
feathers
will be
yòngused
wéiin
the sacred dance
promising

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

Upper TrigramWind LakeThe Gentle → The Joyous
Lower TrigramMountain LakeKeeping Still → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

怙恃自負,不去於下。血從地出,誅罰失理。

Relying on power, boasting of self; refusing to descend from the heights. Blood seeps from the ground; punishment and execution lose all rightness.

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

Commentary

Wind over mountain meets doubled lake: gradual development overflows into the Joyous, yet the verse rings with violence. Arrogant and self-reliant, refusing to yield to those below. Blood seeps from the earth; punishments are carried out without proper order. The verse describes a ruler whose pride corrupts the very joy the hexagram promises. Doubled lake should mean friends learning together, mutual delight in shared discourse. Instead, the arrogant one who trusts only himself misapplies force, and the earth bleeds. From Development to the Joyous, gradual cultivation should produce genuine openness and communal pleasure. But pride reverses the equation: what should spread joy instead spreads terror. Blood from the ground is joy's antithesis.

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