Why does the text say “outer combing”? After the interior has been combed and the hair has been sorted, the next step is to smooth the outer surface, coil the hair up, and fasten it in place. The specialist no longer combs deeply into the interior but works only on the outside, repeatedly arranging and tying the hair. This is the scene of “outer combing.”

When the fourth line moves, lines two, three, and four of the Original Hexagram become Gen, sitting above the Kun trigram formed by lines one, two, and three. Beneath the yang line of Gen are all yin lines, and no Zhen trigram appears anymore. Since yin lines indicate compliance, this shows that the hair has already been combed into order. The transformed hexagram becomes Dui over Kun: Dui represents energy slipping away while Kun represents hair, so the Dui-Kun image suggests hair that may slide loose. At the same time, the upper Kan changes into Dui, showing that the scrutiny side loosens its force — the focal player no longer brings major crisis to the Kun side, but only minor impairment. Lines three through six in Transformed L4 form a forward-and-reverse Xun structure; since Xun represents cords and strings, this forward-and-reverse image suggests tying back and forth, giving the picture of hair being bound and fastened in place. Hidden L4 is Gen over Qian, with Dui appearing from lines two through five: Gen means staying in place, Dui means escaping, while Qian means the head and successful completion. This means the hair is successfully fastened and stays in place.

What does tying the hair symbolize in the human domain? It symbolizes scrutiny officials turning a blind eye and merely going through the motions. They keep the people superficially under control, but as long as no major problem appears on the surface, they no longer expend serious effort to remove harmful elements hidden within.

Why does the text say “auspicious for the diviner”? Hidden L4 is Gen over Qian: Gen represents focal-player energy and Qian represents victory, implying that the Gen-side energy achieves a surface-level victory. The focal player acts only on the periphery and does not need to expend much effort. Obtaining benefit without serious exertion is auspicious for the person carrying out the combing, so the text says “auspicious for the diviner.”

As in the second line, this is auspicious for the primary focal player but not for the Qian side. Why not? In Hidden L4, the previous Li upper trigram disappears, and lines three through six form a stacked Gen-Zhen image. Li represents the eyes and the overseeing mechanism; the Gen-Zhen image, by contrast, can be understood as a mesh with wider gaps — an additional yin line appearing in Li’s eye, symbolizing unclear vision and erroneous action. This shows that the overseeing mechanism has become coarser and less effective. In the hair-combing scene, Li was originally formed by half-Gen and half-Zhen stacked tightly together, symbolizing the fine teeth of the nit comb. Now the gap between Zhen and Gen widens, showing that this time a wide-tooth comb is being used — unable to screen out the smaller lice. In Hidden L4, the lower Qian trigram becomes closely connected with the Zhen trigram formed by lines three, four, and five. Qian represents the head being combed; Zhen represents lice. The hair-combing specialist, working carelessly and with poor eyesight, gives the outer layer of the head a few casual strokes before finishing the job. He coils the hair up — while the lice remain hidden beneath.

The failure of the third line seems to have taught the focal player a painful lesson, making him now overly cautious: he does not dare to act freely and thoroughly, but instead deals with the matter perfunctorily. Although the Hidden Hexagram suggests a surface victory for the Gen side, what the Gen side fails to notice is that the Qian side’s attitude has already begun to incline toward the Zhen side. This sets the stage for the fifth-line scene in which the Qian side dissolves the scrutiny mechanism and lets the Zhen side go — and also foreshadows the Gen side’s tragic fate in the sixth line.