中孚

Hexagram 61: Inner Truth → Hexagram 6: Conflict

中孚
Inner Truth
Wind / Lake
Conflict
Heaven / Water
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 4).

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 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.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWind HeavenThe Gentle → The Creative
Lower TrigramLake WaterThe Joyous → The Deep

Yilin Verse

䍧羊肥首,君子不飽。年飢孔荒,士民危殆。

The fat-headed rams; the gentleman goes hungry. Years of dire famine; the common folk face peril.

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

Commentary

Wind stirs above the lake, but the harvest has failed. The fat-headed ram feeds well while the gentleman goes hungry. The year is barren, the famine severe; commoners and gentry alike face peril. The verse juxtaposes animal satiety with human starvation — the ram's sleek head mocks the empty bowls of those who should govern. From Inner Truth to Conflict, the lake's sincerity meets heaven moving against water, forces diverging. Famine breeds contention: when the virtuous go unfed while beasts thrive, the social compact is broken. Conflict here is not willful aggression but the structural friction that erupts when distribution fails and trust in the system evaporates.

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