履 → 未濟
Hexagram 10: Treading → Hexagram 64: Before Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 5).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
日辰不和，強弱相振，一雌兩雄，客勝主人。
The day and the hour are at odds; strong and weak shake each other. One hen and two roosters; the guest overcomes the host.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the lake, but the celestial signs are discordant. Sun and stars clash rather than cooperate, the strong and weak agitate each other instead of finding balance. One female contends with two males — the guest overpowers the host. The verse describes a fundamental inversion of proper order: the subordinate defeats the principal, the outsider dominates the insider. The cosmic disharmony of sun and zodiac mirrors the social inversion below. From Treading to Before Completion, fire burns above water — neither element reaches the other, and nothing is brought to fulfillment. The transformation warns that when conduct produces only friction and displacement, completion remains permanently out of reach.
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