Hexagram 6: Conflict → Hexagram 27: Nourishment

Conflict
Heaven / Water
Nourishment
Mountain / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5).

Line 1

初六 不永所事。小有言。終吉。

to avoid
yǒngprolong
suǒcertain
shìaffairs
xiǎothe small
yǒuhave
yánthings to say
zhōngin the end
auspicious

Six at the beginning means: If one does not perpetuate the affair, There is a little gossip. In the end, good fortune comes.

Line 2

九二 不克訟。歸而逋其邑。人三百戶。无眚。

not being
capable of
sòngcontending
guīone capitulates
érand so
takes refuge
one's own
home town
rénpopulation
sānis
bǎihundred
households
avoid
shěngcalamities

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 4

九四 不克訟。復即命。渝安貞。吉。

not being
capable of
sòngcontending
returning
to approach
mìnga higher law
withdraw
ānto secure
zhēnthe certain
good fortune

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。

sòngthe contest
yuánis most
promising

Nine in the fifth place means: To contend before him Brings supreme good fortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramHeaven MountainThe Creative → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramWater ThunderThe Deep → The Arousing

Yilin Verse

兩心不同,或從西東。明論終日,莫適相從。

Two hearts not alike; some go west, some east. Debating all day long, none willing to follow the other.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Heaven and water oppose, and two hearts pull in different directions — one heading west, the other east. They argue through the bright day, but no agreement is reached. The verse is Conflict distilled to its essence: irreconcilable opposition, articulate yet futile. From Conflict to Nourishment, the mountain stands above thunder, the image of the mouth — careful speech and measured sustenance. Yi counsels restraint in words and moderation in appetite, yet the disputants here have done the opposite: endless talk, no nourishment. The transformation reveals the cure: when words cannot resolve, stop speaking and attend to what truly feeds. Nourishment begins where argument ends.

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