訟 → 需
Hexagram 6: Conflict → Hexagram 5: Waiting
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。
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。
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 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
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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