謙 → 蹇
Hexagram 15: Modesty → Hexagram 39: Obstruction
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 5).
Line 5
六五 不富以其鄰。利用侵伐。无不利。
Six in the fifth place means: No boasting of wealth before one's neighbor. It is favorable to attack with force. Nothing that would not further.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
右目無瞳，偏視寡明；十步之外，不知何公？
The right eye has no pupil; one-sided vision, scant clarity. Beyond ten paces; one cannot tell who stands there.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth holds the mountain, but the right eye has no pupil — 偏視寡明 — seeing only from one side, perception dim and partial. Beyond ten paces, one cannot tell who stands there. The verse diagnoses impaired judgment: half-blind, unable to identify even nearby figures, stumbling through a world of shadows. From Modesty to Obstruction, water rests upon the mountain — the path ahead is treacherous, and the noble one turns inward to cultivate virtue. The half-blind traveler embodies Obstruction's predicament: the obstacle is not external but perceptual. One cannot navigate what one cannot see. Modesty's counsel to 'weigh things and distribute evenly' requires clear sight; without it, even the closest ally becomes an unrecognizable stranger.
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