歸妹 → 頤
Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden → Hexagram 27: Nourishment
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 6).
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 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.
Line 6
上六 女承筐无實。士刲羊无血。无攸利。
Six at the top means: The woman holds the basket, but there are no fruits in it. The man stabs the sheep, but no blood flows. Nothing that acts to further.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
他山之儲，與環為仇。來攻吾城，傷我肌膚。國家騷憂。
Stores from the neighboring mountain, allied with the ring-wall's foe. They come to attack our city, wounding our very flesh. The state is shaken with worry.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder over lake descends into mountain over thunder: the maiden's precarious bond meets Nourishment's demand for careful sustenance. The resources of another mountain become an enemy at the gate. They attack the city, wounding flesh and skin; the state is thrown into anxious turmoil. The verse depicts invasion: external abundance, rather than being traded or shared, is weaponized against the homeland. From the Marrying Maiden to Nourishment, the transformation places thunder beneath the mountain, the image of the open mouth that must choose wisely what to consume. Nourishment demands caution in speech and moderation in diet. Here, what approaches from outside is hostile nourishment, a force that penetrates the body politic and injures rather than sustains.
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