比 → 兌
Hexagram 8: Holding Together → Hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 2
六二 比之自內。貞吉。
Six in the second place means: Hold to him inwardly. Perseverance brings good fortune.
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
四尾六頭,為凶作妖;陰不奉陽,上失其明。
Four tails and six heads, conjuring ill and making mischief. Yin does not serve yang; the ruler above loses his clarity.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon earth breeds monstrous distortion. A creature with four tails and six heads conjures doom and disaster. Yin fails to serve yang; the ruler above loses his clarity. The multi-headed, multi-tailed beast is a vision of political chaos: too many centers of power, too many divergent agendas, the natural hierarchy inverted. When the subordinate principle refuses to support the dominant, governance goes blind. From Holding Together to The Joyous, doubled lake should produce mutual delight through open exchange. Yet the verse shows Dui's shadow side: excess of openness dissolving into shapelessness, pleasure without structure becoming monstrosity. When everyone leads and no one follows, joy itself turns demonic.
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