履 → 臨
Hexagram 10: Treading → Hexagram 19: Approach
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 4, 5, 6).
Line 4
九四 履虎尾。愬愬終吉。
Nine in the fourth place means: He treads on the tail of the tiger. Caution and circumspection Lead ultimately to good fortune.
Line 5
九五 夬履。貞厲。
Nine in the fifth place means: Resolute conduct. Perseverance with awareness of danger.
Line 6
上九 視履考祥。其旋元吉。
Nine at the top means: Look to your conduct and weigh the favorable signs. When everything is fulfilled, supreme good fortune comes.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
三羊俱亡，走奔南行；會暮失跡，不知所藏。
Three rams all gone astray, running and bolting south. At dusk their tracks are lost; none knows where they are hidden.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the lake, and three sheep flee south together. By dusk their tracks are lost, and no one knows where they have hidden. The sheep — symbols of docility and value — vanish into the gathering dark, beyond recovery. This may echo the Liezi parable of the lost sheep at the crossroads, where too many branching paths make retrieval impossible. From Treading to Approach, earth looms above the lake as authority draws near. Yet the verse suggests that what has scattered cannot be recalled merely by approaching — the sheep are gone. The lesson: timely oversight prevents loss; once dusk falls, no amount of searching avails.
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