兌 → 遯
Hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake → Hexagram 33: Retreat
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 6).
Line 1
初九 和兌吉。
Nine at the beginning means: Contented joyousness. Good fortune.
Line 2
九二 孚兌吉。悔亡。
Nine in the second place means: Sincere joyousness. Good fortune. Remorse disappears.
Line 3
六三 來兌凶。
Six in the third place means: Coming joyousness. Misfortune.
Line 6
上六 引兌。
Six at the top means: Seductive joyousness.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
三羖五䍧，相隨俱行。迷入空澤，循谷宜北。經涉六駁，為所傷賊。
Three rams and five goats follow each other walking. Lost, they enter an empty marsh; the valley leads north. Passing through, they encounter six leopards and are wounded by the predators.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Paired lakes open to heaven above the mountain — Retreat, the withdrawal of the noble from encroaching corruption. Three black rams and five speckled goats travel together, wander into an empty marsh, and follow the valley northward. Crossing six dangerous stretches, they are attacked and injured by predators. The flock's journey through increasingly hostile terrain mirrors a retreat gone wrong: instead of withdrawing cleanly, they stumble deeper into danger. From The Joyous to Retreat, the verse warns that withdrawal requires direction. Heaven above the mountain should provide clear distance from small people, but these animals lose their way in the marsh. Retreat without a compass is merely flight.
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