歸妹 → 剝
Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden → Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4).
Line 1
初九 歸妹以娣。跛能履。征吉。
Nine at the beginning means: The marrying maiden as a concubine. A lame man who is able to tread. Undertakings bring good fortune.
Line 2
九二 眇能視。利幽人之貞。
Nine in the second place means: A one-eyed man who is able to see. The perseverance of a solitary man furthers.
Line 3
六三 歸妹以須。反歸以娣。
Six in the third place means: The marrying maiden as a slave. She marries as a concubine.
Line 4
九四 歸妹愆期。遲歸有時。
Nine in the fourth place means: The marrying maiden draws out the allotted time. A late marriage comes in due course.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
靈龜陸處，一旦失所，伊子復耕，桀亂无輔。
The divine tortoise stranded on land, suddenly losing its place. Yi Yin returns to the plow; Jie's disorder finds no support.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder over lake crumbles into mountain over earth: the maiden's fragile bond meets Splitting Apart's inexorable erosion. The sacred turtle, stranded on land, loses its home in a single day. Yi Yin returns to the plow; tyrant Jie's chaos leaves him without support. The turtle out of water is power removed from its proper element. Yi Yin, the sage minister who helped Tang found the Shang dynasty, once farmed before being recognized. The verse pairs his story with Jie's ruin: when corruption hollows out the center, even loyal ministers must retreat to basics. From the Marrying Maiden to Splitting Apart, the mountain erodes from below as yin lines consume the last yang. The wise respond by withdrawing to solid ground, as Yi Yin returned to his fields.
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