豐 → 明夷
Hexagram 55: Abundance → Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 4).
Line 4
九四 豐其蔀。日中見斗。遇其夷主。吉。
Nine in the fourth place means: The curtain is of such fullness That the polestars can be seen at noon. He meets his ruler, who is of like kind. Good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
兩足四翼，飛入嘉國。寧我伯姊，與母相得。
Purple swallows return to the eaves — spring has grown warm. In the hall, mother and daughter cut cloth together. Outside the window, peach blossoms open like brocade — between needle and thread, laughter flies.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder and fire join in Abundance, and the original verse is warm and intimate. 'Two feet and four wings fly into a blessed land. Comforting my elder sister, she gets along with mother.' The creature with two feet and four wings is traditionally read as paired birds — perhaps mandarin ducks or jiangjian birds — symbolizing harmonious union. The sister and mother dwell together contentedly in a prosperous household. This is domestic bliss: women of the family united, the home a place of peace. From Abundance to Darkening of the Light, fire enters the earth: the bright domestic harmony takes on a protective quality, as light preserved within darkness. The mother and daughter sustain their warmth even as the world outside grows dim.
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