旅 → 乾
Hexagram 56: The Wanderer → Hexagram 1: The Creative
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 5).
Line 2
六二 旅即次。懷其資。得童僕貞。
Six in the second place means: The wanderer comes to an inn. He has his property with him. He wins the steadfastness of a young servant.
Line 4
九四 旅于處。得其資斧。我心不快。
Nine in the fourth place means: The wanderer rests in a shelter. He obtains his property and an ax. My heart is not glad.
Line 5
六五 射雉。一矢亡。終以譽命。
Six in the fifth place means: He shoots a pheasant. It drops with the first arrow. In the end this brings both praise and office.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
寄生无根，如過浮雲。立本不固，斯須落去，更為枯樹。
A parasite without roots, like a passing cloud. Its foundation unsteady; in a moment it falls away, becoming a withered tree.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire on the mountain illuminates the wanderer's path, but a parasite without roots drifts like a passing cloud. The verse paints a vivid image of rootlessness: a climbing plant that clings to its host without establishing its own foundation. It sprouts briefly, seems to flourish, then topples and withers into a dead tree. The imagery warns against building on borrowed ground — position without substance, status without self-reliance. From The Wanderer to Creative, the transformation is stark: one who wanders without anchor cannot access heaven's self-generating power. The Creative demands that initiative spring from an authentic core; without roots of one's own, even the most vigorous display crumbles into barren wood.
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