履 → 蹇
Hexagram 10: Treading → Hexagram 39: Obstruction
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 6).
Line 1
初九 素履往。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Simple conduct. Progress without blame.
Line 2
九二 履道坦坦。幽人貞吉。
Nine in the second place means: Treading a smooth, level course. The perseverance of a dark man Brings good fortune.
Line 3
六三 眇能視。跛能履。履虎尾。咥人凶。武人為于大君。
Six in the third place means: A one-eyed man is able to see, A lame man is able to tread. He treads on the tail of the tiger. The tiger bites the man. Misfortune. Thus does a warrior act on behalf of his great prince.
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
太倉積穀，天下饒食；陰陽調和，年歲時熟。
The great granary stores its grain; all under heaven eats well. Yin and yang are in harmony; the years ripen in their proper season.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the lake, and the granaries of the empire overflow. The Great Storehouse brims with grain, the realm has food in abundance. Yin and yang are in harmony, and the harvest ripens on schedule year after year. This is the utopian vision of Treading fulfilled: when conduct at every level — cosmic, political, agricultural — aligns perfectly, the result is inexhaustible plenty. From Treading to Obstruction, water pools atop the mountain in an image of danger. The paradox is deliberate: the very abundance described here is what Obstruction threatens to disrupt. The verse offers the golden age as a benchmark, reminding us what is at stake when the path ahead is blocked.
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