履 → 需
Hexagram 10: Treading → Hexagram 5: Waiting
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 6).
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
北辰紫宮，衣冠立中；含和建德，常受天福。
The Jade Balance points north; the Celestial Pivot does not shift. The four seasons follow their order; ten thousand states turn their hearts homeward.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the lake — conduct measured against the cosmic standard. The original verse places us in the Purple Palace of the Pole Star, where a robed figure stands at the still center of heaven, cultivating harmony and accumulating virtue, forever receiving celestial blessing. The North Star does not move, yet all stars revolve around it — authority expressed through stillness rather than force. From Treading to Waiting, the transformation refines purposeful conduct into patient trust: one who stands at the unmoving center need not chase fortune, for clouds gather above heaven and sustenance arrives in its own time. The disciplined walker becomes the poised host.
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