中孚大過

Hexagram 61: Inner Truth → Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding

中孚
Inner Truth
Wind / Lake
大過
Great Exceeding
Lake / Wind
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

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

Line 1

初九 虞吉。有他不燕。

readiness
promising
yǒuto be
more than this
no
yàncomfort

Nine at the beginning means: Being prepared brings good fortune. If there are secret designs, it is disquieting.

Line 3

六三 得敵。或鼓或罷。或泣或歌。

finding
counterpart
huòmaybe
to beat
huòor maybe
to quit
huòmaybe
to weep
huòor maybe
to sing

Six in the third place means: He finds a comrade. Now he beats the drum, now he stops. Now he sobs, now he sings.

Line 4

六四 月幾望。馬匹亡。无咎。

yuèmoon
almost
wàngfull
horse
of a pair
wángruns away
no
jiùblame

Six in the fourth place means: The moon nearly at the full. The team horse goes astray. No blame.

Line 6

上九 翰音登于天。貞凶。

hànrooster's
yīncrowing
dēngascend
up to
tiānheaven
zhēnpersistence
xiōngunfortunate

Nine at the top means: Cockcrow penetrating to heaven. Perseverance brings misfortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWind LakeThe Gentle → The Joyous
Lower TrigramLake WindThe Joyous → The Gentle

Yilin Verse

歎息不悅,憂從中出。喪我金嬰,无妄失位。

Sighing without joy; sorrow emerges from within. Losing my golden infant; innocent yet displaced.

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

Commentary

Wind stirs above the lake, but only sighs emerge. Grief wells from within, inconsolable. A golden infant is lost; through no fault of one's own, one's position is forfeited. The 'golden infant' (金嬰) likely refers to a precious heir or treasure — something irreplaceable, taken without justification. 'Wuwang' (无妄) here puns on both 'innocence' and 'without recklessness,' suggesting the loss strikes despite blameless conduct. From Inner Truth to Great Exceeding, sincerity confronts the lake submerging the trees — an image of overwhelming pressure. The ridgepole of one's life bends past its limit. Grief this deep signals that the structure can no longer hold, and what follows must be either noble solitude or complete collapse.

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