訟 → 乾
Hexagram 6: Conflict → Hexagram 1: The Creative
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 3).
Line 1
初六 不永所事。小有言。終吉。
Six at the beginning means: If one does not perpetuate the affair, There is a little gossip. In the end, good fortune comes.
Line 3
六三 食舊德。貞。厲終吉。或從王事。无成。
Six in the third place means: To nourish oneself on ancient virtue induces perseverance. Danger. In the end, good fortune comes. If by chance you are in the service of a king, Seek not works.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
文王四乳,仁愛篤厚。子畜十男,夭折無有。
King Wen had four teats, benevolent and deeply generous. He raised ten sons; not one died young.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and water move in opposition, the image of Conflict, yet here the sage transcends strife through sheer moral abundance. King Wen of Zhou, marked by the omen of four nipples — a sign of extraordinary virtue in classical tradition — raised ten sons without a single one dying young. His benevolence was so profound that it extended to every child under his care. From Conflict to the Creative, the transformation is from opposition to pure initiative: where two forces pull apart, a figure of such moral gravity unifies them. The doubled heaven of Qian demands self-generating strength, and King Wen's fecundity — both biological and civilizational — embodies exactly that tireless creative power.
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