Hexagram 11: Peace → Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning

Peace
Earth / Heaven
Difficulty at the Beginning
Water / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5).

Line 2

九二 包荒。用馮河。不遐遺。朋亡。得尚于中行。

bāoembrace
huāngthe wilderness
yòngpractical
píngto cross
river
avoid
xiáaloofness
neglect
péngcompanions
wángimpermanent
learn
shàngthe value
in
zhōngbalanced
xíngaction

Nine in the second place means: Bearing with the uncultured in gentleness, Fording the river with resolution, Not neglecting what is distant, Not regarding one's companions: Thus one may manage to walk in the middle.

Line 3

九三 无平不陂。无往不復。艱貞无咎。勿恤其孚。于食有福。

there is not
pínglevel
without
slope
there is no
wǎnggoing
without
return
jiāndifficult
zhēnto persist
without
jiùmistake
do not
worry
these
certainties
in
shínourishment
yǒufind
happiness

Nine in the third place means: No plain not followed by a slope. No going not followed by a return. He who remains persevering in danger Is without blame. Do not complain about this truth; Enjoy the good fortune you still possess.

Line 5

六五 帝乙歸妹。以祉元吉。

Lord
Yi (next to the last Shang Emperor)
guīgiving
mèihis little sister
meant
zhǐhappiness
yuánfirst-rate
good fortune

Six in the fifth place means: The sovereign I Gives his daughter in marriage. This brings blessing And supreme good fortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramEarth WaterThe Receptive → The Deep
Lower TrigramHeaven ThunderThe Creative → The Arousing

Yilin Verse

倚立相望,適得道通。驅駕奔馳,比目同床。

Leaning and gazing at each other; at last the way opens through. Galloping in haste; paired eyes share one bed.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Earth above heaven, Peace's open channel, frames a scene of longing fulfilled. Two figures lean forward gazing at each other across a distance, and suddenly the road opens between them. They race forward, driving their carriages at full gallop, and find themselves together — paired-eye fish sharing a single bed, inseparable at last. The 'paired-eye fish' (比目) is a classical image of lovers who can only survive joined together, each possessing a single eye. From Peace to Difficulty at the Beginning, the transformation captures the paradox of union born from struggle: clouds and thunder churn at the start of new life, and the very difficulty of the path is what makes the meeting precious.

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