履 → 萃
Hexagram 10: Treading → Hexagram 45: Gathering Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 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
延頸望酒，不入我口；深以自喜，利得無有。
Craning the neck, gazing at wine; it does not enter my mouth. Deeply pleased with oneself; yet no profit is to be had.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the lake, yet the wine remains forever out of reach. One stretches the neck longingly toward the cup, but it never touches the lips. Self-congratulation runs deep, yet actual profit amounts to nothing. The verse captures the painful gap between desire and attainment: the drinker can see and smell the wine but cannot taste it. Satisfaction is declared prematurely, masking emptiness. From Treading to Gathering, the lake collects upon the earth. The transformation suggests that what the individual cannot reach alone may be obtained through assembly — but only if the self-deception ends. True gathering requires honesty about what one lacks, not hollow celebrations of phantom gain.
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