中孚 → 噬嗑
Hexagram 61: Inner Truth → Hexagram 21: Biting Through
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 5).
Line 2
九二 鳴鶴在陰。其子和之。我有好爵。吾與爾靡之。
Nine in the second place means: A crane calling in the shade. Its young answers it. I have a good goblet. I will share it with you.
Line 4
六四 月幾望。馬匹亡。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: The moon nearly at the full. The team horse goes astray. No blame.
Line 5
九五 有孚攣如。无咎。
Nine in the fifth place means: He possesses truth, which links together. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
桃雀竊脂，巢於小枝。搖動不安，為風所吹。心寒漂搖，常憂殆危。
The peach sparrow steals fat; nesting on a small branch. Swaying without rest; blown about by wind. Heart cold and adrift; always fearing mortal danger.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind stirs above the lake, but the sparrow has built its nest on a slender branch. Stealing fat from the peach tree, perched on a twig too thin to hold, it sways in the wind, heart cold with constant fear of falling. The image is precarious livelihood sustained by petty theft: a bird too greedy to choose a stable roost, too frightened to enjoy what it has stolen. From Inner Truth to Biting Through, sincerity meets fire above thunder — the image of swift justice enforced. The sparrow's anxiety is not paranoia but premonition: one who lives by pilfering on a shaky perch will eventually face the lightning strike of consequence. Trust abused produces its own tribunal.
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