小畜 → 訟
Hexagram 9: Small Taming → Hexagram 6: Conflict
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4).
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 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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
蜲蛇循流，東求大魚；預且舉網，庖人歌謳。
The serpent follows the current, seeking great fish in the east. Yuqie casts the net; the cook sings a song.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind above heaven turns to heaven opposing water below. A serpent winds along the current, heading east to find a great fish. The fisherman Yuqie spreads his net, and the cook sings in triumph. From Small Taming to Conflict, heaven and water move in contrary directions — yet here the opposition becomes productive tension. The snake follows the flow, the net anticipates the catch, and the kitchen celebrates the yield. Conflict's counsel is to plan from the very beginning, and this verse shows that principle fulfilled: each actor in the chain — serpent, net, cook — occupies the right position at the right moment, turning natural opposition into a coordinated harvest.
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