豐 → 升
Hexagram 55: Abundance → Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4).
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 2
六二 豐其蔀。日中見斗。往得疑疾。有孚發若。吉。
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 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
羊腸九縈,相推稍前。止須王孫,乃能上天。
Layer upon layer of cliff and ridge, a thousand stone steps. Hands grip vines; one step, one rest. The clouds part to reveal the summit — a temple stands above.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder and fire join in Abundance, and the original verse describes a winding, arduous ascent. 'The road coils like a sheep's intestine, pushing forward inch by inch; one must wait for the noble patron before ascending to heaven.' The sheep-gut path (羊腸) is a classical image of a treacherous mountain road so narrow that progress is agonizingly slow. The key insight: one cannot make this climb alone. A patron or supporter (王孫) is needed to complete the ascent. From Abundance to Pushing Upward, wood grows within the earth: the transformation captures the verse's message perfectly. Upward advance is not a sprint but a slow, organic rise from below, accumulating small gains until the summit emerges from the clouds.
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