Hexagram 8: Holding Together → Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward

Holding Together
Water / Earth
Pushing Upward
Earth / Wind
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5).

Line 2

六二 比之自內。貞吉。

belong
zhīthis
comes from
nèiwithin
zhēnpersistence
promising

Six in the second place means: Hold to him inwardly. Perseverance brings good fortune.

Line 3

六三 比之匪人。

belong
zhīthis
fěian inferior
rénpeople

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。

xiǎnevident
belonging
wángthe sovereign
yòngemploys
sānonly three
mounted game flushers
shīforgoing
qiánthe leading
qínof the quarry
his town's
rénpeople
are not
jiècoerced
promising

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

Upper TrigramWater EarthThe Deep → The Receptive
Lower TrigramEarth WindThe Receptive → The Gentle

Yilin Verse

倉盈庾億,宜稼黍稷。年歲有息,國家富有。

Granaries brimming, storehouses overflowing; fit for planting millet and grain. Year after year there is surplus; the state is rich and abundant.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Water upon earth fills the granaries to overflowing. Warehouses brim with billions of measures; the land is perfectly suited for millet and grain. The harvest yields annual surplus, and the state grows wealthy. Every image speaks of agricultural abundance achieved through proper cultivation and favorable conditions. From Holding Together to Pushing Upward, wood grows within the earth, rising gradually but irresistibly. Bi's communal water nourishes the soil from which Sheng's tree steadily ascends. The verse embodies the ideal arc of the Yi's agricultural metaphor: alliance provides the groundwater, diligence provides the seed, and the result is the slow, compounding growth that makes a nation rich generation by generation.

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