Hexagram 55: Abundance → Hexagram 41: Decrease

Abundance
Thunder / Fire
Decrease
Mountain / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 6).

Line 2

六二 豐其蔀。日中見斗。往得疑疾。有孚發若。吉。

fēngso abundant
are one's
woven screens
the day
zhōngat mid-
jiànone may see
dǒuthe bushel constellation
wǎnggoing ahead
finds
doubt
and anxiety
yǒuto be
true
and manifest
ruòthis
is promising

Six in the second place means: The curtain is of such fullness That the polestars can be seen at noon. Through going one meets with mistrust and hate. If one rouses him through truth, Good fortune comes.

Line 3

九三 豐其沛。日中見沬。折其右肱。无咎。

fēngso abundant
are one's
pèiflowing banners
the day
zhōngat mid-
jiànone may see
mèistardust
zhéand also break
one's own
yòuright
gōngupper arm
but no
jiùblame

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 4

九四 豐其蔀。日中見斗。遇其夷主。吉。

fēngso abundant
are one's
woven screens
the day
zhōngat mid-
jiànone may see
dǒuthe bushel constellation
or meet
that
hidden
zhǔmaster
promising

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.

Line 6

上六 豐其屋。蔀其家。闚其戶。闃其无人。三歲不覿。凶。

fēngso
are
chambers
screen
one's own
jiāfamily
kuīpeering
one's own
door
abandoned
in
having no
rénthe others
sānand
suìyears
not
覿seen face to face
xiōngunfortunate

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

Upper TrigramThunder MountainThe Arousing → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramFire LakeThe Clinging → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

兩女共室,心不聊食。首髮如蓬,憂常在中。

Two women share a room; their hearts have no appetite for food. Hair disheveled like tangled weeds, sorrow dwells always within.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Thunder and fire illuminate Abundance, and the verse depicts two women sharing a chamber in jealous misery. They have no appetite; their hair is disheveled like tangled wormwood. Worry lives constantly in their hearts. Two women in one household is a classical image of rivalry — whether co-wives in a polygamous household or sisters competing for the same position. Neither can eat; neither can groom herself. The unkempt hair signifies abandoned self-care under chronic emotional distress. From Abundance to Decrease, the mountain draws from the lake below: what was abundant is diminished. The emotional excess of jealousy eats away at both women, each one's anguish feeding the other's, until both are reduced to shadows of their former selves.

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