旅 → 履
Hexagram 56: The Wanderer → Hexagram 10: Treading
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 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 3
九三 旅焚其次。喪其童僕。貞厲。
Nine in the third place means: The wanderer's inn burns down. He loses the steadfastness of his young servant. Danger.
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
木生內蠹，上下相賊，禍亂我國。
Wood breeds worms within; above and below devour each other, bringing ruin to our realm.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire on the mountain, and within the timber wood-borers gnaw unseen. Decay originates inside the heartwood, and upper and lower levels of the structure prey upon one another until the entire nation is thrown into disorder. The image of internal parasites destroying a tree from within is a classic political metaphor: corruption that begins at the core spreads outward, toppling what appeared solid. From The Wanderer to Treading, the traveler steps onto dangerous ground. Heaven above the lake demands clear distinctions between high and low, but when those inside the system are already consuming one another, no amount of careful stepping can prevent the collapse. The wanderer discovers that the ground itself is rotten.
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