中孚 → 坎
Hexagram 61: Inner Truth → Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 6).
Line 1
初九 虞吉。有他不燕。
Nine at the beginning means: Being prepared brings good fortune. If there are secret designs, it is disquieting.
Line 6
上九 翰音登于天。貞凶。
Nine at the top means: Cockcrow penetrating to heaven. Perseverance brings misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
剛柔相呼，三姓為家。霜降既同，惠我以仁。
Hard and soft call to each other; three surnames form one family. After frost falls together; they show me benevolence.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind stirs above the lake as the firm and yielding call to each other. Three surnames form one household. When frost descends they share the same hearth, and kindness binds them. The verse celebrates the formation of a blended or extended family: different lineages choosing to live as one, united not by blood but by mutual benevolence. The frost's arrival — autumn's test of solidarity — proves the bond genuine. From Inner Truth to the Abysmal, sincerity enters the doubled water, danger upon danger. Yet the verse reads against the target hexagram's usual menace: precisely because these three families have chosen trust, they can navigate peril together. The Abysmal's lesson is that constancy of heart carries one through repeated danger.
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