既濟 → 解
Hexagram 63: After Completion → Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 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 3
九三 高宗伐鬼方。三年克之。小人勿用。
Nine in the third place means: The Illustrious Ancestor Disciplines the Devil's Country. After three years he conquers it. Inferior people must not be employed.
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
求璋嘉鄉，惡虵不行。道出岐口，還復其床。
Seeking the zhang jade in the blessed village; the evil snake does not appear. Taking the road out through Qi Pass, returning again to his own bed.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water sits above fire, and one seeks the jade tablet of zhang in a beautiful village. Venomous serpents dare not cross the path. The road leads out through the fork at Qi, and one returns safely to one's own bed. The zhang jade tablet was a ritual instrument of authority and pure intention; its presence repels malevolent forces. The fork at Qi (岐口) recalls the ancient Zhou homeland near Mount Qi, a place of auspicious origins. From After Completion to Deliverance, fire-and-water order yields to thunder and rain together — the storm that releases all tension. Deliverance clears the road of obstacles. The serpent withdraws, the path opens, and the traveler returns home — danger dissolved by the arrival of what was sought.
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