歸妹 → 革
Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden → Hexagram 49: Revolution
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5).
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 5
六五 帝乙歸妹。其君之袂。不如其娣之袂良。月幾望吉。
Six in the fifth place means: The sovereign I gave his daughter in marriage. The embroidered garments of the princess Were not as gorgeous As those of the serving maid. The moon that is nearly full Brings good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
仁德覆洽，恩及異域，澤被殊方，禍災隱伏。蚕不作室，寒无所得。
Benevolent virtue spreads far and wide, grace reaching foreign lands, blessings covering distant places. Yet disaster hides within. The silkworm builds no cocoon; in the cold, there is nothing to be had.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder over lake gives way to lake over fire: the maiden's premature bond meets Revolution's transformative fire. Benevolent virtue spreads far, reaching foreign lands and distant regions. Yet calamity lurks beneath the surface. The silkworm fails to build its cocoon, and when cold arrives, there is nothing to harvest. The verse pairs the outward glory of moral influence with a fatal neglect of practical foundations. From the Marrying Maiden to Revolution, fire within the lake transforms the old order. Revolution demands perfect timing and absolute sincerity. The verse warns that grand ambition without domestic preparation is like a silkworm that never spins: when the season of reckoning arrives, all the far-reaching virtue in the world cannot substitute for the cocoon left unbuilt.
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