兌 → 大壯
Hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake → Hexagram 34: Great Power
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 3, 5).
Line 3
六三 來兌凶。
Six in the third place means: Coming joyousness. Misfortune.
Line 5
九五 孚于剝。有厲。
Nine in the fifth place means: Sincerity toward disintegrating influences is dangerous.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
雄鵠延頸，欲飛入關。雨師洒道，瀸我袍裘。重車難前，侍者稽止。
The male swan stretches its neck, wanting to fly through the pass. The Rain Master sprinkles the road, soaking my cloak and coat. The heavy cart cannot advance; attendants halt and delay.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Paired lakes surge into thunder above heaven — Great Power, the charging ram that must not overreach. A male swan stretches its neck, eager to fly through the pass. But the Rain Master drenches the road, soaking robes and furs. The heavy carriage cannot advance, and the attendants halt. Ambition is checked by weather — the cosmic equivalent of poor timing. From The Joyous to Great Power, the verse captures frustrated momentum. Thunder in heaven should be irresistible force, yet even great power is stalled by rain-slicked roads and waterlogged garments. The swan's eagerness means nothing when the conditions refuse to cooperate. Power without proper timing merely exhausts itself.
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