豐 → 晉
Hexagram 55: Abundance → Hexagram 35: Progress
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 6).
Line 1
初九 遇其配主。雖旬无咎。往有尚。
Nine at the beginning means: When a man meets his destined ruler, They can be together ten days, And it is not a mistake. Going meets with recognition.
Line 3
九三 豐其沛。日中見沬。折其右肱。无咎。
Nine in the third place means: The underbrush is of such abundance That the small stars can be seen at noon. He breaks his right arm. No blame.
Line 6
上六 豐其屋。蔀其家。闚其戶。闃其无人。三歲不覿。凶。
Six at the top means: His house is in a state of abundance. He screens off his family. He peers through the gate And no longer perceives anyone. For three years he sees nothing. Misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
𪙨𪙨囓囓，貧鬼相責。无有歡怡，一日九結。
Gnashing and grinding, the poverty demon lays blame. No joy or ease to be found; in a single day, nine knots of anguish.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder and fire illuminate Abundance, yet the scene is one of gnawing misery. Chattering and biting, poverty demons harry the household. There is no joy or ease; each day brings nine knots of worry. The 'poverty demons' (貧鬼) are folk entities that embody chronic destitution — they gnaw at the spirit like rats at grain. 'Nine knots in a single day' suggests anxiety compounding upon itself until the mind is entirely bound. From Abundance to Progress, fire rises above the earth: the irony cuts deep. Progress means the bright principle ascending over the horizon, yet for one tormented by poverty demons, no dawn breaks. The verse poses Progress as aspiration not yet achieved — the light exists but the demons have not been expelled.
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