中孚

Hexagram 56: The Wanderer → Hexagram 61: Inner Truth

The Wanderer
Fire / Mountain
中孚
Inner Truth
Wind / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 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 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 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 TrigramFire WindThe Clinging → The Gentle
Lower TrigramMountain LakeKeeping Still → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

長夜短日,陰為陽賊。萬物空枯,藏在北陸。

Long nights, short days; yin plunders yang. The ten thousand things are emptied and withered, hidden away in the northern land.

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

Commentary

Fire on the mountain, yet the season is deep winter. Long nights and short days; yin assaults yang like a thief in the dark. All living things wither and empty; life retreats to storage in the northern quarter. The verse captures the nadir of the annual cycle: maximum darkness, minimum vitality, nature's treasury sealed against the cold. From The Wanderer to Inner Truth, wind blows above the lake, and the hollow center of the hexagram embodies sincerity without pretension. Yet the verse presents truth stripped to its bleakest form: winter's honesty is that nothing grows, nothing flourishes, and survival requires withdrawal into the innermost chamber. The wanderer's inner truth is the bare acknowledgment of his own desolation.

The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store

Related Pages