小畜 → 既濟
Hexagram 9: Small Taming → Hexagram 63: After Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 2, 6).
Line 2
九二 牽復。吉。
Nine in the second place means: He allows himself to be drawn into returning. Good fortune.
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
慈母赤子，饗賜得士；夷狄服除，以安王家。
A loving mother and her dear child; feasting and rewarding, she wins loyal followers. The barbarian tribes submit and disrobe; bringing peace to the royal house.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind above heaven achieves the perfect balance of water above fire — After Completion's fully ordered state. A loving mother tends her infant; feasting and gifts secure the allegiance of worthy men. The frontier peoples submit and are pacified; the royal house rests in safety. From Small Taming to After Completion, the verse presents Ji Ji's ideal: every element in its proper place. The mother-child bond is the primordial unit of care; the feast that wins loyal officers is governance working as it should; the pacified borders complete the picture. Water above fire keeps the pot at a steady boil — everything functions. Ji Ji's warning, however, is to 'think of calamity and prepare against it,' for such perfection is always the moment before things begin to shift.
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