訟 → 益
Hexagram 6: Conflict → Hexagram 42: Increase
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4).
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 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 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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
延頸望酒，不入我口。初喜後否，得利無有。
Craning the neck, gazing at wine; it does not enter my mouth. First joy, then denial; profit is not to be had.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and water oppose, and anticipation curdles into disappointment. One cranes the neck toward wine, but it never reaches the lips. Initial joy turns to denial; no profit comes. The gap between expectation and reality is the essence of Conflict — two forces pulling in opposite directions, promise and fulfillment diverging. From Conflict to Increase, wind and thunder move together in mutual reinforcement. Yi's image is seeing good and following it, having faults and correcting them. Yet the verse captures the moment before Increase can take hold: the wine tantalizingly near but never tasted. The transformation warns that Increase demands active self-correction — merely stretching toward reward without changing course yields nothing.
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