師 → 屯
Hexagram 7: The Army → Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5).
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 2
九二 在師中吉。无咎。王三錫命。
Nine in the second place means: In the midst of the army. Good fortune. No blame. The king bestows a triple decoration.
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
殊類異路，心不相慕。牝牛牡猳，獨無室家。
Different kinds, different roads; hearts that do not yearn for each other. A cow and a boar; alone without household or home.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water hidden within the earth holds multitudes in formation, yet here the ranks scatter by nature. Different species walk different paths; their hearts feel no mutual longing. A female cow and a male boar — mismatched creatures who share no instinct for companionship — end up without home or family. The verse captures radical incompatibility: not conflict, but indifference between beings who simply do not belong together. From The Army to Difficulty at the Beginning, organized force meets the primal chaos of new beginnings where nothing yet coheres. What was unified under command dissolves into cloud and thunder, each element groping blindly, unmatched and alone.
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