師 → 遯
Hexagram 7: The Army → Hexagram 33: Retreat
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
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 3
六三 師或輿尸。凶。
Six in the third place means: Perchance the army carries corpses in the wagon. Misfortune.
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
土與山連，終身無患。天地高明，萬歲長安。
Earth joins with the mountain; lifelong, no calamity. Heaven and earth are lofty and bright; ten thousand years of lasting peace.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water hidden within the earth anchors itself to immovable ground. Earth and mountain merge as one continuous body; throughout one's life there is no calamity. Heaven and earth stand lofty and luminous, promising ten thousand years of enduring peace. The verse is a benediction of stability — geological permanence as metaphor for lifelong security. From The Army to Retreat, heaven rises above the mountain in dignified withdrawal. The army's duty fulfilled, one withdraws into the shelter of cosmic constancy. This is not flight but strategic repose: the mountain beneath heaven knows when the campaign is done and rests in its own unshakeable foundation.
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