履 → 解
Hexagram 10: Treading → Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 素履往。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Simple conduct. Progress without blame.
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
竿旄旗旌，執幟在郊；雖有寶珠，無路致之。
Poles, pennants, banners, and flags; holding ensigns in the open field. Though there are precious pearls; there is no road to deliver them.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the lake, banners and pennants wave in the suburban field. Standards are raised and flags flutter, troops mustered at the outskirts. Yet though one possesses precious pearls, there is no road to deliver them. The scene stages frustrated potential: military ceremony and treasured resources exist, but the connection between them is severed. The pearls cannot reach their destination; the display of force lacks practical effect. From Treading to Deliverance, thunder and rain break through obstruction. The verse implies that what is needed is not more wealth or more troops but the liberating stroke that clears the blocked path — the thunderstorm that washes away the impasse.
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