節 → 師
Hexagram 60: Limitation → Hexagram 7: The Army
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 5).
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 5
九五 甘節吉。往有尚。
Nine in the fifth place means: Sweet limitation brings good fortune. Going brings esteem.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
春多膏澤,夏潤優渥。稼穡成熟,畝獲百斛。
Spring brings rich moisture; summer's rains are ample and gentle. The crops ripen fully; each acre yields a hundred bushels.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water over lake regulates flow, and here that regulation yields abundance. Spring brings rich rains and summer deepens the moisture — crops mature under ideal conditions, each mu yielding a hundred hu of grain. The verse is pure agricultural blessing: proper timing, proper measure, and the earth responds with bounty. From Limitation to the Army, the transformation reveals how measured governance feeds the state's capacity for collective action. Earth contains water within it — resources pooled underground, ready to sustain a multitude. The well-watered field is the army's granary. Limitation's discipline, applied to the calendar and the soil, becomes the logistical foundation upon which a disciplined populace can be mobilized. Abundance administered wisely is strength held in reserve.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store