比 → 蠱
Hexagram 8: Holding Together → Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5, 6).
Line 2
六二 比之自內。貞吉。
Six in the second place means: Hold to him inwardly. Perseverance brings good fortune.
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.
Line 6
上六 比之无首。凶。
Six at the top means: He finds no head for holding together. Misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
齊魯爭言，戰於龍門。搆怨結禍，三世不安。
Qi and Lu quarrel and dispute, battling at Dragon Gate. Building enmity and binding calamity; three generations without peace.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon earth becomes contested ground when neighbors quarrel. Qi and Lu exchange heated words and clash at Dragon Gate. Enmity compounds into disaster, and three generations find no peace. Dragon Gate — the gorge carved by Yu the Great where fish leap to become dragons — here becomes a site of pointless bloodshed between allied states that should have cooperated. The disputes between Qi and Lu are well attested throughout the Spring and Autumn period. From Holding Together to Work on the Decayed, the verse traces how broken alliances breed systemic corruption. Gu's wind trapped beneath the mountain signals decay from within: grievances left unaddressed fester across generations, poisoning what could have been mutual prosperity.
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