否 → 坎
Hexagram 12: Standstill → Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 6).
Line 2
六二 包承。小人吉。大人否。亨。
Six in the second place means: They bear and endure; This means good fortune for inferior people. The standstill serves to help the great man to attain success.
Line 4
九四 有命无咎。疇離祉。
Nine in the fourth place means: He who acts at the command of the highest Remains without blame. Those of like mind partake of the blessing.
Line 6
上九 傾否。先否後喜。
Nine at the top means: The standstill comes to an end. First standstill, then good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
病貧望幸，使伯行販；開牢擇羊，多得大牂。
Sick and poor, hoping for luck; one sends the elder to trade. Opening the pen to choose a sheep, he gains many fine ewes.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and earth stand sealed as poverty and illness drive one to hope for fortune. The elder brother is sent out to trade, and when the pen is opened to select sheep, many fine ewes are found. From Standstill to The Abysmal, Pi's stagnation meets doubled water — danger upon danger. Yet the verse tells a surprisingly practical story of recovery: desperation leads to commerce, and commerce yields abundance. The pen full of ewes transforms scarcity into wealth. Kan's wisdom is that one must maintain sincerity through danger, acting with heart and purpose even when surrounded by peril. Here, the act of sending the elder brother to trade is precisely that — purposeful action amid hardship, and the reward is tangible and plentiful.
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