大壯

Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind → Hexagram 34: Great Power

The Gentle Wind
Wind / Wind
大壯
Great Power
Thunder / Heaven
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5, 6).

Line 1

初六 進退。利武人之貞。

jìnadvance
退tuìand retreat
meriting
the military
rénone
zhī's
zhēnpersistence

Six at the beginning means: In advancing and in retreating, The perseverance of a warrior furthers.

Line 4

六四 悔亡。田獲三品。

huǐregret(s)
wángpass
tiánin the field
huòtake
sānthree
pǐnkind

Six in the fourth place means: Remorse vanishes. During the hunt Three kinds of game are caught.

Line 5

九五 貞吉悔亡。无不利。无初有終。先庚三日。後庚三日。吉。

zhēnpersistence
is promising
huǐregret(s)
wángpass
without
doubt
worthwhile
without
chūthe beginning
yǒuthere is
zhōngan conclusion
xiānbefore
gēngreform
sānthree
days
hòuafter
gēngreform
sānthree
days
promising

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。

xùnencroach(ment)
zàioccur
chuángthe bed
xiàunder
sànglosing
one's own
resources
and an ax
zhēnpersistence
xiōngis disappointing

Nine at the top means: Penetration under the bed. He loses his property and his ax. Perseverance brings misfortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWind ThunderThe Gentle → The Arousing
Lower TrigramWind HeavenThe Gentle → The Creative

Yilin Verse

乘車七百,以明文德。踐土葵丘,齊晉受福。

Seven hundred chariots arrayed; to demonstrate civil virtue. At the mounds of Jiantu and Kuiqiu; Qi and Jin receive their blessings.

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

Commentary

Wind upon wind transforms into thunder over heaven: the Gentle becomes Great Power. Seven hundred chariots ride forth to manifest civil virtue. At the covenants of Jiantu and Kuiqiu, Qi and Jin receive their blessings. The verse celebrates the great hegemonic assemblies of the Spring and Autumn period: Kuiqiu, where Duke Huan of Qi assembled the lords in 651 BC, and Jiantu, where Duke Wen of Jin convened them after the Battle of Chengpu in 632 BC. Both were moments when military power was channeled into ritual diplomacy. From The Gentle to Great Power, thunder above heaven, the gentleman moves with irresistible force but within the bounds of propriety. The seven hundred chariots display strength that serves virtue, not violence — power made legitimate through ceremony.

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