豐 → 巽
Hexagram 55: Abundance → Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 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 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.
Line 5
六五 來章。有慶譽吉。
Six in the fifth place means: Lines are coming, Blessing and fame draw near. Good fortune.
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
六虵奔走,俱入茂草。驚於長路,畏懼啄口。
Six snakes dash and flee, all plunging into thick grass. Startled on the long road, fearful of the pecking beak.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder and fire converge in Abundance, and six serpents flee in panic. They rush into the tall grass, startled on the long road, terrified of pecking beaks. The serpents' flight is disorderly and driven by fear — they are prey, not predators. The 'pecking beaks' (啄口) suggest birds attacking from above, forcing the snakes to ground level. Six is the number of yin lines, and serpents in grass represent hidden, vulnerable forces seeking concealment. From Abundance to the Gentle, doubled wind penetrates everywhere: the snakes cannot hide because wind enters every crevice of the tall grass. The Gentle's penetrating quality finds what is concealed, and for the snakes — already panicked — there is no shelter even in the densest growth.
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