既濟 → 鼎
Hexagram 63: After Completion → Hexagram 50: The Cauldron
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 6).
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.
Line 6
上六 濡其首。厲。
Six at the top means: He gets his head in the water. Danger.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
祭仲子突，要門逐忽。禍起子商，弟伐其兄，鄭久不昌。
Sacrificer Zhong and Prince Tu block the gate and expel Prince Hu. Calamity rises from Prince Shang; brother attacks brother. Zheng will long fail to flourish.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water sits above fire, and the minister Zhai Zhong installs Zi Tu, blocking the gate against the legitimate ruler Hu. Calamity originates from Zi Shang; the younger brother attacks his elder, and Zheng knows no prosperity for a long time. This alludes to the Zheng succession crisis: in 701 BC, the powerful minister Zhai Zhong, coerced by the state of Song, deposed Duke Zhao (Hu) and enthroned Zi Tu as Duke Li. The resulting instability plagued Zheng for decades. From After Completion to the Cauldron, fire-and-water order yields to fire above wind — the sacred vessel that refines and transforms. Yet here the Cauldron's transformative power is corrupted: instead of refining governance, it melts legitimate authority into usurpation, and the state's nourishment turns to poison.
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