既濟 → 恆
Hexagram 63: After Completion → Hexagram 32: Duration
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5).
Line 1
初九 曳其輪。濡其尾。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: He breaks his wheels. He gets his tail in the water. No blame.
Line 2
六二 婦喪其茀。勿逐。七日得。
Six in the second place means: The woman loses the curtain of her carriage. Do not run after it; On the seventh day you will get it.
Line 4
六四 繻有衣袽。終日戒。
Six in the fourth place means: The finest clothes turn to rags. Be careful all day long.
Line 5
九五 東鄰殺牛。不如西鄰之禴祭。實受其福。
Nine in the fifth place means: The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox Does not attain as much real happiness As the neighbor in the west With his small offering.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
火起吾後,喜炙倉廡。龍衘水深,潠注屋柱,雖憂无咎。
Fire rises behind me, threatening to burn the granary and storehouse. A dragon carrying deep water sprays it upon the roof pillars; though there is worry, there is no harm.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water sits above fire — and then fire erupts behind. Flames threaten the granary and storehouse, but a dragon carrying water from the depths spews it upon the pillars, dousing the blaze. Though worry remains, there is no lasting harm. The verse dramatizes emergency and response: the completed order catches fire, but a primal force — the dragon from below — intervenes with exactly the needed element. From After Completion to Duration, the balanced configuration yields to thunder above wind — enduring forces in constant motion. Duration is not static preservation but the dynamic rhythm of crisis and response. The completed state survives not because it avoids disaster but because it possesses the reflexive capacity to meet fire with water, again and again.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store