旅 → 鼎

Commentary

Fire on the mountain, and a man of supreme virtue waits, properly dressed and self-disciplined. King Wen went hunting and encountered Lü Shang — Taigong Wang — fishing by the Wei River. Taigong received his reward: titled Grand Preceptor (太師), he was enfeoffed as lord of the state of Qi. The verse celebrates the wanderer who, through patient cultivation of personal excellence, attracts the sovereign's recognition. Taigong's long wait by the river was not idleness but readiness. From The Wanderer to The Cauldron, fire blazes above wood, transforming raw material into refined nourishment. The Cauldron is the vessel of state ritual, and Taigong becomes its living embodiment — the stranger who, through merit, is placed at the center of civilized order.