履 → 坎
Hexagram 10: Treading → Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 6).
Line 1
初九 素履往。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Simple conduct. Progress without blame.
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 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
山險難升，澗中多石；車馳轊擊，重傷載軸；擔負善躓，跌踒右足。
The mountain is steep and hard to climb; the ravine is strewn with stones. The carriage races, axle-caps clashing; the axle suffers heavy damage. The bearer stumbles easily; spraining and twisting the right foot.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the lake, yet the terrain beneath is treacherous beyond measure. The mountain is too steep to climb, the ravine filled with stones. A speeding cart strikes its axle-cap, damaging the axle severely. Porters stumble under their loads, spraining and breaking the right foot. Every form of passage — by vehicle, on foot, bearing burdens — fails on this ground. From Treading to the Abysmal, water upon water doubles the danger. The transformation strips away any pretense of safe conduct: some paths are simply impassable, and the wise response is not to press forward but to cultivate constancy amid repeated peril.
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