巽 → 遯
Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind → Hexagram 33: Retreat
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 2, 4).
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 4
六四 悔亡。田獲三品。
Six in the fourth place means: Remorse vanishes. During the hunt Three kinds of game are caught.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
三雞啄粟，十雛從食。飢鳶卒擊，亡其兩叔。
Three hens peck at grain; ten chicks follow to feed. A hungry kite strikes suddenly; two young ones are lost.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind upon wind transforms into heaven over mountain: the Gentle becomes Retreat. Three hens peck at grain while ten chicks follow to feed. A hungry kite strikes suddenly, and two of the brood are lost. The farmyard scene turns violent in an instant: the mother hens forage peacefully, their chicks trailing behind, until a raptor swoops down from above and snatches two. From The Gentle to Retreat, heaven above the mountain signals the time to withdraw from encroaching danger. The hens' mistake was not retreating when the shadow appeared. The gentleman distances himself from petty men — not through hostility but through timely withdrawal. Those who linger at the feeding ground when the predator circles will lose what they cannot protect.
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