訟 → 蠱
Hexagram 6: Conflict → Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
桑葉螟蠹，衣弊如絡。女工不成，絲布為玉。
Mulberry leaves eaten by caterpillars and borers; garments tattered as netting. Women's work unfinished; silk cloth might as well be jade.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and water oppose, and here decay invades the productive order. Silkworms are devoured by caterpillars and borers; garments fray to rags. The weavers cannot finish their work, and silk cloth is valued as jade — inflated to absurdity by scarcity. From Conflict to Work on the Decayed, wind stirs beneath the mountain, the image of corruption that demands renewal. Gu's hexagram literally means 'poisonous decay' — the worm in the vessel. The verse matches it precisely: parasites consume the source material, labor fails, and value distorts. Yet Gu also implies the mandate to repair. The decay must be named before it can be addressed; the worm must be seen before the vessel can be cleansed.
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