歸妹 → 小畜
Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden → Hexagram 9: Small Taming
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5, 6).
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
堯門尹爵，聖德增益。使民不疲，安无怵惕。
At Yao's gate, bestowing rank and title; sagely virtue ever increases. The people are not wearied; they dwell in peace without alarm.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder over lake gives way to wind over heaven: the maiden's impulsive pairing refines into Small Taming's gentle cultivation of virtue. At the gate of Emperor Yao, offices and ranks are justly bestowed. Sagely virtue accumulates benefit for all; the people are spared exhaustion, dwelling in peace without alarm. The verse evokes Yao's golden age, where governance flowed so naturally that subjects barely felt its presence. From the Marrying Maiden to Small Taming, wild energy is not suppressed but gently channeled, as wind moves across heaven without force. Small Taming refines through culture and moral example rather than coercion. The transformation suggests that even a turbulent beginning can be civilized when leadership distributes its blessings wisely.
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