比 → 謙
Hexagram 8: Holding Together → Hexagram 15: Modesty
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 3, 5).
Line 3
六三 比之匪人。
Six in the third place means: You hold together with the wrong people.
Line 5
九五 顯比。王用三驅。失前禽。邑人不誡。吉。
Nine in the fifth place means: Manifestation of holding together. In the hunt the king uses beaters on three sides only And forgoes game that runs off in front. The citizens need no warning. Good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
蜩飛墜木，不毀頭足。保我羽翼，復歸其室。
The cicada flies and falls from the tree, not injuring head or feet. Keeping safe my wings; I return again to my home.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon earth cushions the fall. A cicada tumbles from its tree but lands without shattering head or feet. Its wings are preserved intact, and it returns safely to its dwelling. The cicada in classical poetry symbolizes purity and fragility — a creature of song that feeds on dew. Its survival here depends not on strength but on lightness and resilience. From Holding Together to Modesty, the transformation embodies the verse's logic: the mountain hidden within the earth does not assert itself, and precisely because of this humility, it remains unbroken. Bi's communal support softens the landing; Qian's modesty ensures that the fall itself does no lasting damage. The one who does not grasp at height survives the descent.
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