巽 → 坤
Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind → Hexagram 2: The Receptive
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5, 6).
Line 2
九二 巽在牀下。用史巫。紛若。吉。无咎。
Nine in the second place means: Penetration under the bed. Priests and magicians are used in great number. Good fortune. No blame.
Line 3
九三 頻巽吝。
Nine in the third place means: Repeated penetration. Humiliation.
Line 5
九五 貞吉悔亡。无不利。无初有終。先庚三日。後庚三日。吉。
Nine in the fifth place means: Perseverance brings good fortune. Remorse vanishes. Nothing that does not further. No beginning, but an end. Before the change, three days. After the change, three days. Good fortune.
Line 6
上九 巽在牀下。喪其資斧。貞凶。
Nine at the top means: Penetration under the bed. He loses his property and his ax. Perseverance brings misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
有鳥飛來，集于宮樹。鳴聲可畏，主將出去。
A bird comes flying; it alights on the palace tree. Its cry inspires dread; the lord must depart.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind upon wind gives way to doubled earth: gentle penetration dissolves into pure receptivity. A bird flies in and perches on the palace tree. Its cry is fearful, ominous — and the lord of the house will depart. In Han dynasty omen lore, birds alighting on palace trees and crying strangely were portents of the ruler's death or exile. The palace should be a place of order, yet this uninvited visitor disrupts it with a dreadful voice. From The Gentle to The Receptive, the wind that should carry commands now carries only ill tidings. Earth doubled is vast and yielding, but here that yielding becomes vacancy: the throne empties, the master leaves, and what remains is the hollow receptivity of an abandoned hall.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store