小畜 → 剝
Hexagram 9: Small Taming → Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 復自道。何其咎。吉。
Nine at the beginning means: Return to the way. How could there be blame in this? Good fortune.
Line 2
九二 牽復。吉。
Nine in the second place means: He allows himself to be drawn into returning. Good fortune.
Line 5
九五 有孚攣如。富以其鄰。
Nine in the fifth place means: If you are sincere and loyally attached, You are rich in your neighbor.
Line 6
上九 既雨既處。尚德載。婦貞厲。月幾望。君子征凶。
Nine at the top means: The rain comes, there is rest. This is due to the lasting effect of character. Perseverance brings the woman into danger. The moon is nearly full. If the superior man persists, Misfortune comes.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
孔鯉伯魚，北至高奴；木馬金車，駕遊大都；王母送我，來牝字駒。
Kong Li, courtesy name Boyu, travels north to Gaonu. With wooden horse and golden carriage, he tours the great capital. The Queen Mother sends me off; the mare arrives with her colt.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind above heaven gives way to the mountain crumbling upon earth. Kong Li, courtesy name Boyu — Confucius's only son, named after the carp (鯉) that Duke Zhao of Lu sent as a gift at his birth — travels north to the distant garrison of Gaonu. A wooden horse and golden carriage convey him to the great capital. The Queen Mother sends him off, presenting a mare and her foal. From Small Taming to Splitting Apart, the verse weaves an unlikely journey: the sage's son, divine patronage, and royal steeds all attend a northward mission. Yet Bo's image — the mountain eroding onto the earth — suggests this splendor cannot last. The gifts are generous but the foundation crumbles beneath the traveler's feet.
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