歸妹

Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind → Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden

The Gentle Wind
Wind / Wind
歸妹
The Marrying Maiden
Thunder / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 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 3

九三 頻巽吝。

pínfrequent
xùnadaptation
lìnembarrass(ment)

Nine in the third place means: Repeated penetration. Humiliation.

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 LakeThe Gentle → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

天之所明,禍不遇家。反自相逐,終得和鳴。

What Heaven illuminates; disaster does not reach the home. Those who drove each other away; in the end achieve harmony.

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

Commentary

Wind upon wind transforms into thunder over lake: the Gentle becomes the Marrying Maiden. Where heaven's light shines, disaster does not visit the household. Those who once chased each other in discord ultimately achieve harmonious union. The verse traces a relationship from initial conflict to final concord — quarrels that seemed irreconcilable resolve into the music of paired birds singing together. The phrase 'harmonious singing' evokes the ospreys of the Guanju ode, the Shijing's opening celebration of proper marriage. From The Gentle to the Marrying Maiden, thunder stirs above the lake — the gentleman understands endings by recognizing what is worn out. The maiden's journey into marriage transforms opposition into partnership, and wind's patient influence finally accomplishes what force could not.

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