中孚 → 既濟
Hexagram 61: Inner Truth → Hexagram 63: After Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 6).
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 3
六三 得敵。或鼓或罷。或泣或歌。
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 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
龍潛鳳北，其子變服，陰孽萌作。
Dragon submerges, phoenix flies north; its offspring change their garments. Dark troubles begin to sprout.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind stirs above the lake, but the dragon hides and the phoenix flies north — its offspring change their garments, and sinister forces germinate in the dark. When the dragon submerges (龍潛) and the phoenix reverses course, heaven's order is inverted. The children 'changing clothes' suggests disguise or transformation of identity, while 'yin malice sprouting' (陰孽萌作) warns of treachery taking root. From Inner Truth to After Completion, sincerity meets water above fire — every element in its proper place, the moment of perfect arrangement. Yet the verse warns that completion is the precise instant when decay begins. The dragon's withdrawal and the phoenix's wrong turning are the first symptoms: order achieved is order already unraveling from within.
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