訟 → 謙
Hexagram 6: Conflict → Hexagram 15: Modesty
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 2
九二 不克訟。歸而逋其邑。人三百戶。无眚。
Nine in the second place means: One cannot engage in conflict; One returns home, gives way. The people of his town, Three hundred households, Remain free of guilt.
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.
Line 4
九四 不克訟。復即命。渝安貞。吉。
Nine in the fourth place means: One cannot engage in conflict. One turns back and submits to fate, Changes one's attitude, And finds peace in perseverance. Good fortune.
Line 5
九五 訟。元吉。
Nine in the fifth place means: To contend before him Brings supreme good fortune.
Line 6
上九 或錫之鞶帶。終朝三褫之。
Nine at the top means: Even if by chance a leather belt is bestowed on one, By the end of a morning It will have been snatched away three times.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
播木折枝，與母別離。九皋難扣，絕不相知。
Wind-tossed tree, broken branch; parted from its mother. The nine marshes are hard to reach; cut off, they shall never know each other.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and water oppose, and branches are torn from their tree — the mother-child bond snapped beyond repair. One cries out to the nine marshes, but no answer comes; they are utterly cut off from each other. The 'nine marshes' (九皋) echoes the Shijing ode 'Crane Cry': 'The crane cries in the nine marshes, its voice heard in the wild' — but here the cry finds no listener. From Conflict to Modesty, the mountain hides within the earth, lowering itself. Modesty counsels reducing excess to aid the deficient, yet this verse offers no balm. The separation is absolute, and the crane's far-carrying voice dissolves into silence. Even Modesty's gentle redistribution cannot restore what conflict has severed.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store