中孚 → 未濟
Hexagram 61: Inner Truth → Hexagram 64: Before Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5).
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 4
六四 月幾望。馬匹亡。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: The moon nearly at the full. The team horse goes astray. No blame.
Line 5
九五 有孚攣如。无咎。
Nine in the fifth place means: He possesses truth, which links together. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
國无比鄰，相與爭強。紛紛匈匈，天下擾憂。
The state has no neighbors; all contend to grow stronger. In confusion and turmoil; the world falls to worry.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind stirs above the lake, but the state has no neighboring ally. Powers contend against one another for supremacy. Chaos and turmoil spread everywhere; the entire realm is troubled and anxious. The verse describes a geopolitical condition of universal competition: no alliances hold, every state is a rival, and the resulting disorder saturates the world. From Inner Truth to Before Completion, sincerity confronts fire above water — every element in the wrong position, nothing yet resolved. Before Completion is the eternal almost: the fox that nearly crosses the river but wets its tail at the last step. The verse captures the exhausting stalemate of a world where trust between nations has collapsed and no single power can impose order, leaving everyone suspended in perpetual anxiety.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store