師 → 大畜
Hexagram 7: The Army → Hexagram 26: Great Taming
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 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 3
六三 師或輿尸。凶。
Six in the third place means: Perchance the army carries corpses in the wagon. 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
三人俱行,別離獨食。一身五心,反覆迷惑,亂無所得。
Three men walk together; they part and eat alone. One body, five minds; turning and confused, gaining nothing.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water hidden within the earth unifies the many under one command, but here three companions set out together only to separate and eat alone. One body harbors five conflicting hearts, vacillating back and forth in confusion, gaining nothing from the chaos. The verse diagnoses a failure of unity: what should be collective purpose fragments into individual uncertainty. The 'five hearts' suggest radical indecision — pulled in every direction simultaneously. From The Army to Great Taming, heaven contained within the mountain demands accumulated wisdom and stored virtue. But accumulation requires consistency; a mind split five ways cannot store anything. The mountain holds nothing if its interior is in turmoil.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store