小畜 → 歸妹
Hexagram 9: Small Taming → Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 3
九三 輿說輻。夫妻反目。
Nine in the third place means: The spokes burst out of the wagon wheels. Man and wife roll their eyes.
Line 4
六四 有孚。血去惕出。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: If you are sincere, blood vanishes and fear gives way. No blame.
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
三婦同夫，志不相思；心懷不平，志常愁悲。
Three wives share one husband; their hearts hold no longing for each other. Harboring resentment; their spirits are always grieved.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind above heaven gives way to thunder above the lake — the Marrying Maiden's irreversible commitment. Three wives share one husband, but their hearts hold no affection for each other. Resentment festers; constant sorrow fills their days. From Small Taming to the Marrying Maiden, the verse exposes Gui Mei's inherent instability. Thunder over the lake creates excitement but also recklessness — the eldest daughter given to the youngest son, a structurally unequal union. Three women forced into proximity without mutual sympathy produce not a household but a prison of silent antagonism. Gui Mei warns the gentleman to 'know the flaw and see it through to the end.' The flaw here is foundational: a bond built on obligation rather than genuine resonance cannot generate anything but grief.
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