Hexagram 56: The Wanderer → Hexagram 33: Retreat

The Wanderer
Mountain / Fire
Retreat
Heaven / Mountain
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5).

Line 1

初六 旅瑣瑣。斯其所取災。

the wanderer
suǒis mean
suǒand frivolous
as such
this
suǒplace
draws
zāiadversity

Six at the beginning means: If the wanderer busies himself with trivial things, He draws down misfortune upon himself.

Line 4

九四 旅于處。得其資斧。我心不快。

the wanderer
is
chùthe shelter
having secured
his
resources
and an ax
but lamenting 'my...
xīnheart
is not
kuàihappy

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。

shèshooting
zhìthe pheasant [as a gift for the local noble]
one
shǐarrow
wángis lost
zhōngbut in the end
for the sake of
praise
mìngand commission

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

Upper TrigramMountain HeavenKeeping Still → The Creative
Lower TrigramFire MountainThe Clinging → Keeping Still

Yilin Verse

彭名為妖,暴龍作災。盜堯衣裳,聚跖荷兵。青禽照夜,三旦夷亡。

Black banners cover the fields — bandits gather their camp. Beacon fires burn for three months, nights without peace. Suddenly heavenly thunder splits the commander's tent — the bandits scatter in all directions, wailing like ghosts.

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

Commentary

Fire on the mountain, and the original verse names Peng Ming as a demonic force, a violent dragon bringing catastrophe. Bandits steal the garments of sage-kings and gather armies under the banner of stolen legitimacy. Then the 'blue bird illuminates the night' — a dawn omen or celestial intervention — and after three dawns the barbarians are destroyed. The verse describes usurpers who dress themselves in Yao's robes while wielding Robber Zhi's weapons, false order masking true chaos. From The Wanderer to Retreat, heaven rises above the mountain, and the gentleman distances himself from petty men. The celestial strike that scatters the bandits enacts Retreat's principle: darkness disperses not through confrontation but through the return of authentic light.

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