歸妹 → 漸
Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden → Hexagram 53: Development
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
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.
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.
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
懸懸南海，去家萬里。飛兔褭駿，一日見母，除我憂悔。
Suspended far over the southern sea, ten thousand li from home. The flying hare, the swift steed — in one day he sees his mother, and all grief and regret are lifted.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder over lake softens into wind over mountain: the maiden's impetuous bond matures into Development's gradual, steady progress. Suspended far across the Southern Sea, ten thousand miles from home. Yet a flying hare, a prancing stallion, carries one home in a single day to see one's mother, dissolving all worry and regret. The verse captures the ache of extreme distance resolved by extraordinary swiftness, the mythical 'flying hare' steed that collapses ten thousand miles into one day's ride. From the Marrying Maiden to Development, the transformation demands patience: trees grow slowly on the mountaintop. Yet the verse promises that steady longing, maintained across vast distance, eventually finds its vehicle. The reunion with the mother completes the arc of gradual return.
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