中孚

Hexagram 61: Inner Truth → Hexagram 56: The Wanderer

中孚
Inner Truth
Wind / Lake
The Wanderer
Mountain / Fire
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

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

Line 2

九二 鳴鶴在陰。其子和之。我有好爵。吾與爾靡之。

míngcall
crane
zàiremaining in
yīnshadows
her
young ones
respond
zhīher
I
yǒuhave
hǎofine
juédecanter
I
along with
ěryour
will drain
zhīit

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 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 5

九五 有孚攣如。无咎。

yǒubeing
true
luánbond
is like
no
jiùblame

Nine in the fifth place means: He possesses truth, which links together. No blame.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWind MountainThe Gentle → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramLake FireThe Joyous → The Clinging

Yilin Verse

白鵠遊望,君子以寧。履德不愆,福祿來成。

The white swan wanders and gazes; the gentleman finds peace. Treading virtue without fault; blessing and fortune come to completion.

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

Commentary

Wind stirs above the lake as the white swan glides and gazes across the distance, and the gentleman finds peace. Walking the path of virtue without faltering, blessings and prosperity arrive in completion. The white swan (白鵠) is an image of purity and far-sightedness, its leisurely flight embodying the composure of one whose conduct is impeccable. From Inner Truth to the Wanderer, sincerity meets fire upon the mountain — the traveler's campfire on a foreign peak. The Wanderer's lot is precarious, yet this verse promises safety within the journey. When one's virtue does not stumble (履德不愆), even the rootlessness of travel becomes a dignified progress, and blessings come to meet the wanderer on the road.

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