巽 → 比
Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind → Hexagram 8: Holding Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 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 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
天門九重，深內難通。明坐至暮，不見神公。
Heaven's gate, nine layers deep; the inner sanctum unreachable. From bright dawn to darkening dusk; the divine lord appears not.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind upon wind transforms into water over earth: gentle influence becomes the search for alliance. The gates of heaven stand nine layers deep, the innermost chambers impenetrable. Sitting from dawn until dusk, one never glimpses the divine lord. The verse captures the frustration of a petitioner denied audience — perhaps a minister locked outside the imperial presence, or a supplicant whose offerings reach no divine ear. From The Gentle to Holding Together, the irony bites: water upon earth should flow naturally toward unity, yet here the barriers are absolute. Wind's penetrating nature should find every crack, but even doubled wind cannot pass through nine celestial gates. The alliance one seeks remains forever on the other side of a closed door.
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