未濟 → 大過
Hexagram 64: Before Completion → Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).
Line 3
六三 未濟征凶。利涉大川。
Six in the third place means: Before completion, attack brings misfortune. It furthers one to cross the great water.
Line 5
六五 貞吉无悔。君子之光。有孚吉。
Six in the fifth place means: Perseverance brings good fortune. No remorse. The light of the superior man is true. Good fortune.
Line 6
上九 有孚于飲酒。无咎。濡其首。有孚失是。
Nine at the top means: There is drinking of wine In genuine confidence. No blame. But if one wets his head, He loses it, in truth.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
追亡逐北，呼還幼叔。至山而得，反歸其室。
Chasing the lost, pursuing the fled; calling back the young uncle. At the mountain he is found; he returns home to his household.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire above water, and someone chases a fugitive northward. The pursuer calls for the young uncle to return; at the mountain, the fugitive is found and brought back home. The verse has the structure of a family drama: a junior member has fled, and the household mobilizes to retrieve him. 'Pursuing the fleeing and chasing the retreating' (追亡逐北) is a standard military phrase repurposed here for domestic crisis. From Before Completion to Great Exceeding, fire-over-water transforms into the lake submerging the trees — a structure pushed beyond its limits. The ridgepole sags under extraordinary weight. Yet the verse resolves: the young uncle is recovered, the family restored. Great Exceeding demands extraordinary measures for extraordinary times, and the pursuit succeeds precisely because it exceeds normal bounds.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store