Hexagram 6: Conflict → Hexagram 5: Waiting

Conflict
Heaven / Water
Waiting
Water / Heaven
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 6).

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 3

六三 食舊德。貞。厲終吉。或從王事。无成。

shíincorporating
jiùlong-standing
virtues
zhēnin order to persist
difficult
zhōngbut in the end
auspicious
huòas
cóngpursuing
wángsovereign
shìaffairs
no
chéngachievement

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。

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 6

上九 或錫之鞶帶。終朝三褫之。

huòsomebody
awards
zhīone
pánthe leather big
dàiand ribbons
zhōngby the end of
zhāothe morning
sānone will be three times
chǐstripped
zhīof them

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

Upper TrigramHeaven WaterThe Creative → The Deep
Lower TrigramWater HeavenThe Deep → The Creative

Yilin Verse

引船牽頭,雖拘無憂。王母善禱,禍不成災。

Pulling the boat, hauling the bow-line; though restrained, no worry. The Queen Mother prays well; calamity does not become disaster.

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

Commentary

Heaven and water pull in opposite directions, but the boatman pulls the towrope and the vessel moves forward — though constrained, there is no cause for worry. The Queen Mother of the West offers her prayers, and calamity does not ripen into disaster. The Western Queen Mother, dwelling on Kunlun above the Weak Water, is guardian of immortality and celestial protection. Her intercession transforms potential harm into blessing. From Conflict to Waiting, the opposition of heaven and water resolves into clouds gathering above heaven — the patient anticipation of nourishment. The verse counsels trust in protective forces: the rope holds, the prayer averts, and one who waits in faith need not fear the storm.

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