Great Exceeding

The bottom line is broken, and it meets the strain with care. The commentary says its subject “feels his weakness and his being in the lowest place”. Legge adds that he “is distinguished by his carefulness”, and the text finds no error.

Legge ties the care to the lower trigram, “which denotes flexibility and humility”. Wilhelm keeps the picture short, “To spread white rushes underneath.”

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 43, Breakthrough

An old willow puts out shoots, and an old husband has a young wife. The commentary calls the match unusual, since “such association is extraordinary”. Legge explains that this line “inclines to the weak 1 below him”, and he reads the result as fruitful, since “the action of the subject of 2 will be successful”.

Legge gives the reason for the lean. The line “has no proper correlate above”. He also says what the image promises, “An old husband with a young wife will yet have children”. In Wilhelm the tree is a poplar that “sprouts at the root”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 31, Influence

The weak beam of the judgment returns here, and the text speaks of evil. Legge reads a person “confident in his own strength” whose correlate in the top line is weak. “Alone, he is unequal to the extraordinary strain on him”, and the commentary adds that “no help can be given”.

Wilhelm gives this line the same words as his judgment, “The ridgepole sags to the breaking point.” Here they end in “Misfortune.”

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 47, Oppression

The beam curves upward, and this is the one line with good fortune. Legge explains that the line is strong in an even place, so “his strength is tempered” and “He will be equal to his task.” The text adds a condition. Looking for other help brings “cause for regret”, and the commentary says the beam “does not bend towards what is below”.

Legge places the line next to the fifth, which he calls “the ruler's place”, so that on its subject “devolves the duty of meeting the extraordinary exigency of the time”. In his note the help to avoid is that of the first line, which “would affect him with another element of weakness”. Wilhelm reads the warning differently. “If there are ulterior motives, it is humiliating.”

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 48, The Well

The willow flowers here, but Legge points out that it produces “flowers, not shoots”. The text finds “occasion neither for blame nor for praise”. The commentary asks of the flowers “how can this secure its long continuance?”, and Legge answers that “its decay will soon reappear”.

Legge sets this line beside the second. The line is “strong and central”, but it “has no proper correlate below”, and it leans to the top line as the second leaned to the first. Of the marriage he says “An old wife will have no children.” The commentary is harsher and calls it “a thing to be ashamed of”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 32, Duration

The top line is broken. Its subject wades through a stream “till the water hides the crown of his head”. The text speaks of evil “but no ground for blame”, and Legge gives the reason. “He is unequal to the task, and sinks beneath it; but his motive modifies the judgment on his conduct.”

The motive Legge names is to “benefit all under the sky”. The commentary agrees that the act “affords no ground for blame”. Wilhelm puts the line as a necessity, “One must go through the water.”

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 44, Coming to Meet