比 → 隨
Hexagram 8: Holding Together → Hexagram 17: Following
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 4).
Line 1
初六 有孚比之。无咎。有孚盈缶。終來有它吉。
Six at the beginning means: Hold to him in truth and loyalty; This is without blame. Truth, like a full earthen bowl: Thus in the end Good fortune comes from without.
Line 4
六四 外比之。貞吉。
Six in the fourth place means: Hold to him outwardly also. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
過時不歸，雌雄苦悲。徘徊外國，與母分離。
Past the time, he does not return; male and female cry in bitter grief. Wandering in a foreign land; parted from the mother.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon earth should hold companions close, but here the season of return has passed. A pair of birds — male and female — cry in bitter sorrow, unable to rejoin. One wanders in a foreign land, separated from its mother. The verse is pure lament for missed timing: the moment for homecoming has expired, and the exile lingers beyond the border. From Holding Together to Following, the transformation adds poignancy: Sui's lake over thunder suggests joyful responsiveness, thunder resting at evening beneath tranquil waters. Yet the verse denies this rest — the wanderer cannot follow the natural rhythm home. Alliance fractured by distance and delay becomes grief that no amount of willing can mend.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store