乾 → 蹇
Hexagram 1: The Creative → Hexagram 39: Obstruction
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 6).
Line 1
初九 潛龍勿用。
Nine at the beginning means: Hidden dragon. Do not act.
Line 2
九二 見龍在田。利見大人。
Nine in the second place means: Dragon appearing in the field. It furthers one to see the great man.
Line 4
九四 或躍在淵。无咎。
Nine in the fourth place means: Wavering flight over the depths. No blame.
Line 6
上九 亢龍有悔。
Nine at the top means: Arrogant dragon will have cause to repent.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
騎㹠逐羊，不見所望，徑涉虎穴，亡羊失羔。
Riding a boar to chase sheep, not seeing what was hoped for. Cutting straight through the tiger’s den; the sheep are lost, the lambs gone.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Riding a young boar to chase sheep, one finds nothing where one looks. Recklessly entering a tiger's lair, both the ewe and lamb are lost. From Creative to Obstruction, water collects dangerously atop the mountain — the image of peril that demands self-reflection. The verse is a parable of compounded misjudgment: the wrong mount for the wrong quarry leads into the worst possible terrain. Each decision worsens the situation until even what one originally possessed is gone. Jian's counsel is to turn inward and cultivate virtue when the road ahead is blocked. This rider charges forward on his boar, ignoring every signal to stop, and the tiger's den swallows everything.
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