小畜

Hexagram 9: Small Taming → Hexagram 60: Limitation

小畜
Small Taming
Wind / Heaven
Limitation
Water / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 3, 6).

Line 3

九三 輿說輻。夫妻反目。

輿the carriage
shuōthrows off
its wheel's spokes
husband
and wife
fǎnare wild-
eyed

Nine in the third place means: The spokes burst out of the wagon wheels. Man and wife roll their eyes.

Line 6

上九 既雨既處。尚德載。婦貞厲。月幾望。君子征凶。

once
rain
once
chùsettling
shàngappreciate
virtue
zàicarries
the wife
zhēnpersistence
is difficult
yuèthe moon
nearly
wàngfull
jūnthe noble
one
zhēngadvancing
xiōngunfortunate

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

Upper TrigramWind WaterThe Gentle → The Deep
Lower TrigramHeaven LakeThe Creative → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

兩人相距,止不同舍;夫妻離散,衛侯失居。

Two men stand opposed, halting at different lodgings. Husband and wife are scattered apart; the Marquis of Wei loses his home.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Wind above heaven meets water resting upon the lake — Limitation's measured boundaries. Two people stand apart, halting in separate lodgings, refusing to share the same roof. Husband and wife are scattered; the Lord of Wei loses his dwelling. From Small Taming to Limitation, the verse shows boundaries hardened into walls. Jie's water upon the lake represents measured containment — neither overflowing nor stagnant. Yet here limitation has become estrangement: the couple who should dwell together are separated by mutual refusal. The Lord of Wei losing his home echoes the political dimension of shattered intimacy. When limits meant to structure a relationship become the instruments of division, Limitation's virtue — knowing when enough is enough — inverts into the destruction of what it was meant to preserve.

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