兌 → 比
Hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake → Hexagram 8: Holding Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4).
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 4
九四 商兌未寧。介疾有喜。
Nine in the fourth place means: Joyousness that is weighed is not at peace. After ridding himself of mistakes a man has joy.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
嵩融持戟，杜伯荷弩，降觀下國，誅逐无道。夏商之季，失埶外走。
Song Rong holds a halberd, Du Bo bears a crossbow. They descend to observe the mortal realm, pursuing and punishing the lawless. At the end of Xia and Shang, those who lost power fled abroad.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Paired lakes give way to water upon earth — the pattern of alliance and judgment. Songrong wields a halberd, Dubo carries a crossbow; they descend to observe the lower kingdoms and punish the lawless. 'Songrong' likely refers to Zhurong, the fire god and divine enforcer, while Dubo is the ghost of Du Bo, a lord unjustly executed by King Xuan of Zhou around 781 BC. According to tradition in the Mozi, Du Bo's ghost later appeared and shot King Xuan with an arrow. The verse then names the fall of the Xia and Shang dynasties — tyrants who lost power and fled. From The Joyous to Holding Together, divine agents enforce cosmic justice so that legitimate alliance may be restored.
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