比 → 旅
Hexagram 8: Holding Together → Hexagram 56: The Wanderer
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5, 6).
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 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
松柏棟梁，相輔為強；八哲五教，王室康寧。
Pine, cypress, ridge-beam, pillar; they support and strengthen each other. Eight wise men and five teachings; the royal house is at peace.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon earth builds the pillars that hold up a state. Pine and cypress serve as ridgepole and beam, mutually reinforcing in strength. The Eight Sages and Five Teachings — recalling the legendary 'Eight Yuan and Eight Kai' whom Emperor Shun appointed to civilize the realm — keep the royal house in peace. These sixteen worthies, long overlooked, were finally employed by Shun to spread the five moral teachings and administer justice. From Holding Together to The Wanderer, fire atop the mountain illuminates the surrounding country. Lu's wandering fire needs a firm base, and the verse provides exactly that: institutional timber, wise counselors, and moral instruction that stabilize even a regime on the move.
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