歸妹 → 升
Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden → Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 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 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
戴堯扶禹。松喬彭祖，西過王母。道里夷易，无敢難者。
An immortal crane leads the way; clouds form a bridge. At Kunlun's Jade Pool, turquoise waters shimmer. The peaches of immortality fruit once in a thousand years — eating one extends life, joy and ease forever.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder over lake ascends into earth over wind: the maiden's restless energy meets Pushing Upward's steady, rooted rise. The original verse reads: 'Bearing Yao, supporting Yu; Chisongzi, Wang Qiao, and Pengzu. Traveling west past the Queen Mother of the West, the road is level and easy; none dare obstruct.' The verse assembles a pantheon of sage-kings and immortals, pairing Yao and Yu's earthly governance with the transcendent longevity of Chisongzi and Pengzu. The journey westward to the Queen Mother encounters no resistance. From the Marrying Maiden to Pushing Upward, wood grows from within the earth, ascending methodically. The verse transforms the maiden's subordinate position into an unobstructed ascent: when one carries the sage tradition and walks the immortals' path, the way opens of its own accord.
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