Hexagram 56: The Wanderer → Hexagram 59: Dispersion

The Wanderer
Mountain / Fire
Dispersion
Wind / Water
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 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 2

六二 旅即次。懷其資。得童僕貞。

the wanderer
comes to
an en)camp(ment)
huáicherish
these
resources
and gain
tónga young
servant
zhēnpersistence

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。

the wanderer
fénburns
this
camp
sàngand lose
this
tóngyoung
servant
zhēnpersistence(ing)
is difficult

Nine in the third place means: The wanderer's inn burns down. He loses the steadfastness of his young servant. Danger.

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 WindKeeping Still → The Gentle
Lower TrigramFire WaterThe Clinging → The Deep

Yilin Verse

晦昧昏明,君无紀綱。甲子成亂,簡公喪亡。

Dim and dark, murky and unclear; the lord has lost all order. On the jiazi day, chaos erupts; Duke Jian is destroyed.

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

Commentary

Fire on the mountain, and the court descends into darkness. Day and night blur together; the ruler has lost all discipline and order. On a jiazi day, chaos erupts, and Duke Jian is destroyed. This almost certainly refers to the assassination of Duke Jian of Qi by the powerful minister Tian Chang (田常/田成子) in 481 BC — an event recorded in the Zuo Zhuan that marked the effective end of the Jiang clan's rule in Qi. The 'jiazi' day locates the event with calendrical precision. From The Wanderer to Dispersion, wind blows across the water, scattering what was gathered. The duke's murder disperses the last pretense of legitimate rule: governance dissolves into formlessness, and the wanderer witnesses a state losing its very identity.

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