Hexagram 60: Limitation → Hexagram 56: The Wanderer

Limitation
Water / Lake
The Wanderer
Fire / Mountain
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

Line 1

初九 不出戶庭。无咎。

not
chūgoing out
the door
tíngthe chamber
no
jiùblame

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。

not
chūgoing out
ménthe door
tíngthe chamber
xiōngunfortunate

Nine in the second place means: Not going out of the gate and the courtyard Brings misfortune.

Line 3

六三 不節若。則嗟若。无咎。

no
jiéboundary
ruòsuch
and consequently
jiēlament
ruòsuch
no
jiùblame

Six in the third place means: He who knows no limitation Will have cause to lament. No blame.

Line 4

六四 安節亨。

ānsecure in
jiéthe boundary
hēngfulfillment

Six in the fourth place means: Contented limitation. Success.

Line 5

九五 甘節吉。往有尚。

gānsweet
jiéboundary
promising
wǎngto go ahead
yǒuis
shàngworth

Nine in the fifth place means: Sweet limitation brings good fortune. Going brings esteem.

Line 6

上六 苦節貞凶。悔亡。

bitter
jiélimitation
zhēnpersistence
xiōngis unfortunate
huǐbut
wángpass

Six at the top means: Galling limitation. Perseverance brings misfortune. Remorse disappears.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWater FireThe Deep → The Clinging
Lower TrigramLake MountainThe Joyous → Keeping Still

Yilin Verse

仁獸所處,國无凶咎。市賈十倍,復歸惠里。

Where the benevolent beast dwells, the state knows no misfortune. Market goods return tenfold; prosperity returns to the blessed village.

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

Commentary

Water over lake establishes the environment within which all creatures thrive according to their nature. Where the benevolent beast dwells, the state knows no misfortune — the 'ren shou' (humane beast, i.e., the qilin) appears only under virtuous governance. Market prices increase tenfold, signaling prosperity, and trade returns to the quarter of kindness. The verse links auspicious omens to economic flourishing: moral governance attracts cosmic signs that in turn generate commercial confidence. From Limitation to the Wanderer, the transformation sends this prosperity onto the road. Fire upon the mountain illuminates the traveler's path; the gentleman uses clarity cautiously in his judgments. Limitation's stable prosperity becomes the Wanderer's careful navigation of foreign terrain — the merchant who knows his home market well enough to trade successfully abroad.

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