Hexagram 55: Abundance → Hexagram 56: The Wanderer

Abundance
Thunder / Fire
The Wanderer
Mountain / Fire
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

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

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 Fire

Yilin Verse

叔仲善賈,與喜為市。不憂危殆,利得十倍。

Shu and Zhong trade skillfully, dealing with joy at the market. Undaunted by danger and peril; profit gained tenfold.

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

Commentary

Thunder and fire illuminate Abundance, and the verse celebrates skilled commerce. Shuzhong is a good merchant who trades alongside joy and satisfaction. He worries not about danger, and profits multiply tenfold. The 'Shuzhong' (叔仲) may be a personal name or a kinship term (the second and third brothers), suggesting a family trade partnership. This verse closely parallels 55-55, with the same phrasing of fearless trading and tenfold returns. From Abundance to the Wanderer, fire upon the mountain: the merchant's journey transforms from Abundance's confident expansion into the Wanderer's more precarious travel. The Wanderer must be 'clear and careful' — the tenfold profit is possible, but only for one who carries prudence alongside boldness.

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