小畜 → 比
Hexagram 9: Small Taming → Hexagram 8: Holding Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 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 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 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
鵲近卻縮，不見頭目；日以困急，不能自復。
The magpie draws near then shrinks back, unable to see head or eyes. Day by day more pressed and desperate; unable to recover on its own.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind above heaven meets water resting upon earth — the promise of solidarity. Yet a magpie approaches, then shrinks back, its head and eyes invisible. Day by day the distress grows more urgent, and recovery becomes impossible. From Small Taming to Holding Together, one might expect the comfort of alliance, but the verse inverts the promise. The magpie — traditionally an omen of good news — recoils rather than arrives. Bi's image demands trust and timely commitment: the ancient kings established their network of states by acting decisively. Here, hesitation has cost everything. The bird that should have brought connection instead retreats, and isolation deepens into paralysis.
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