師 → 履
Hexagram 7: The Army → Hexagram 10: Treading
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 師出以律。否臧凶。
Six at the beginning means: An army must set forth in proper order. If the order is not good, misfortune threatens.
Line 4
六四 師左次。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: The army retreats. No blame.
Line 5
六五 田有禽。利執言。无咎。長子帥師。弟子輿尸。貞凶。
Six in the fifth place means: There is game in the field. It furthers one to catch it. Without blame. Let the eldest lead the army. The younger transports corpses; Then perseverance brings misfortune.
Line 6
上六 大君有命。開國承家。小人勿用。
Six at the top means: The great prince issues commands, Founds states, vests families with fiefs. Inferior people should not be employed.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
義不勝情，以欲自營。見利危寵，滅君令名。
Duty cannot overcome desire; pursuing selfish gain. Seeing profit, endangering favor; destroying the lord's good name.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water hidden within the earth demands disciplined obedience, but here duty loses to desire. Righteousness cannot overcome personal feeling; one pursues selfish profit at the expense of public trust. Seeing advantage, one endangers the sovereign's favor and destroys the lord's good name. The verse traces a clear arc of moral failure: when private appetite overtakes principled action, the entire hierarchy suffers. The minister who should serve the collective instead serves himself, and the ruler's reputation — which depends on his subordinates' integrity — collapses. From The Army to Treading, the transformation demands careful steps beneath heaven's authority — treading on the tiger's tail requires absolute propriety. One who substitutes self-interest for duty will be bitten, and the bite is fatal.
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