訟 → 大過
Hexagram 6: Conflict → Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 3, 6).
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 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
啞啞笑言,與善飲食。長樂行觴,千秋起舞,拜受大福。
Laughing joyfully in speech; sharing in good food and drink. Long joy, passing the cup; a thousand autumns of rising to dance, receiving great fortune.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and water oppose, but here laughter rings out freely. Companions share good food and drink, passing cups in the Hall of Eternal Joy, rising to dance through a thousand autumns, bowing to receive great blessings. The scene is pure festivity — a grand banquet where conflict is forgotten in shared celebration. From Conflict to Great Exceeding, the lake overwhelms the trees beneath it, a structure pushed beyond its limits. Yet Great Exceeding also means extraordinary action: the ridgepole bends but bears a weight no ordinary beam could hold. The feast described is itself excessive — extravagant, exuberant, almost too much. The verse embraces this: sometimes transcending conflict requires not moderation but magnificent overflow.
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