渙 → 坤
Hexagram 59: Dispersion → Hexagram 2: The Receptive
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 5, 6).
Line 2
九二 渙奔其机。悔亡。
Nine in the second place means: At the dissolution He hurries to that which supports him. Remorse disappears.
Line 5
九五 渙汗其大號。渙。王居无咎。
Nine in the fifth place means: His loud cries are as dissolving as sweat. Dissolution! A king abides without blame.
Line 6
上九 渙其血。去逖出。无咎。
Nine at the top means: He dissolves his blood. Departing, keeping at a distance, going out, Is without blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
蛇得澤草，不憂危殆。
The snake finds marsh grass in the wetland; it fears no peril or danger.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind moves over water, dispersing what has pooled — and here a snake finds marsh grass, its perfect refuge. Among the reeds and damp hollows, danger dissolves entirely. The snake needs neither to fight nor to flee; it simply slips into the terrain that suits its nature. Earth doubled upon earth, the Receptive's image, suggests the infinite capacity to shelter by yielding. From Dispersion to the Receptive, scattering transforms into settling: what the wind breaks apart, the earth absorbs and holds. The snake's ease among the wetland grasses captures this dynamic precisely — safety comes not from asserting control but from finding the ground that already fits one's shape.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store