Why can the impaired eye still see? In the Original Hexagram, lower Dui connects with Li in lines two, three, and four. Li represents eyes; Dui represents smallness and damage. Their combination depicts an injured or diminished eye.

Meanwhile, Li also means detecting problems and examining flaws. Dui can represent the damage brought by the focal player and observed by Li. When line three changes, Li becomes Qian, victory and success. The other player's scrutiny succeeds in detecting the focal player's flaws. Hence the impaired sight can still see.

The impaired leg comes from the Hidden Hexagram. Lines one, two, and three form inverted Zhen, while lines three, four, and five form upright Zhen. Zhen represents the leg. Upright Zhen suggests a functioning leg and inverted Zhen an impaired one. Their overlap at line three depicts a limp.

Zhen originally connects to lower Gen through Kan in lines two, three, and four. Kan represents injury or harmful energy. When line three changes, Kan becomes Kun, death: harmful energy successfully causes death. Hence the impaired leg can still scratch.

Transformed L3 is doubled Qian. The original Xun in lines three, four, and five is now read as inverted Dui, a devouring mouth facing downward. When the third line changes, Xun becomes Qian, showing that the devouring mouth is full; Lower Dui becomes Qian, showing the focal player’s energy absorbed into the other player’s energy. Qian, the tiger, devours the parasite below. Hence, the text says, “attaching to its tail brings a bite”.

In the Hidden Hexagram, Zhen, the creature’s feet, originally overlaps Gen, the tail, at line three. This line is the pivot of the attachment structure. Its single yang line surrounded by yin also suggests danger. When it changes, the Hidden Hexagram becomes entirely Kun. Gen, the feeding position, disappears; Zhen disappears as well. Kun represents death and disappearance. The focal player’s energy is extinguished.

Both Transformed L3 and Hidden L3 depict the dissolution of the focal player. The statement therefore calls the outcome disaster.

“A violent ruler is not a proper host” specifies the kind of other player encountered here. Transformed L3 is doubled Qian. Qian represents military force, violence, and a ruler; doubled Qian depicts a ruler who governs through force. In Hidden L3, Gen becomes Kun, and the tail, skin, and official position disappear. In the parasite scene, the host bites or scratches the irritated spot, tearing away the skin and removing the parasite with it.

In the domain of social relationships, the violent ruler is a domineering other player who suppresses the focal player by force and extracts substantial resources. The focal player pays a cost to establish a bond with Qian. Dui ordinarily suggests both payment and smallness, a limited contribution. Here, complete assimilation into Qian implies an unbearable cost. The focal player has chosen the wrong host and sacrifices more than it can gain. The third line, subject to complex influences from different parts of the hexagram, often depicts an error of judgment or action. Here the error is the choice of host.