節 → 否
Hexagram 60: Limitation → Hexagram 12: Standstill
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 6).
Line 1
初九 不出戶庭。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Not going out of the door and the courtyard Is without blame.
Line 2
九二 不出門庭。凶。
Nine in the second place means: Not going out of the gate and the courtyard Brings misfortune.
Line 4
六四 安節亨。
Six in the fourth place means: Contented limitation. Success.
Line 6
上六 苦節貞凶。悔亡。
Six at the top means: Galling limitation. Perseverance brings misfortune. Remorse disappears.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
張陳嘉謀，贊成漢都。主歡民喜，其樂休休。
Zhang Liang and Chen Ping offered wise counsel, helping establish the Han capital. The lord rejoices, the people celebrate; their happiness is boundless.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water over lake sets the frame, and this verse celebrates the counselors who designed a dynasty within that frame. Zhang and Chen devise brilliant strategy, establishing the capital of the Han. The ruler rejoices; the people celebrate; delight pervades the land. The pairing almost certainly refers to Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, the two supreme strategists of Liu Bang's founding of the Han dynasty. Zhang Liang provided grand strategy; Chen Ping supplied cunning tactical maneuvers. Together they guided a peasant rebel to the imperial throne. From Limitation to Standstill, the transformation is paradoxical: heaven and earth cease to communicate, yet the verse is jubilant. The resolution lies in reading Standstill as the necessary withdrawal after creation — the architects step back once the structure stands.
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