臨 → 坎

Commentary

Earth above the lake plunges into doubled water — the Abysmal's repeated peril. Eight faces and nine mouths: the long tongue becomes an axe, hacking apart the sacred hu-lian vessel and cutting off the Shang bloodline. The 'hu-lian' is the ritual jade grain vessel that symbolizes the continuity of sacrifice and state. A long tongue — slander — destroys it as effectively as any weapon. The verse echoes the fall of the Shang dynasty, where malicious counsel and internal corruption shattered the dynasty's ritual foundations. From Approach to the Abysmal, the lake's nurturing waters deepen into treacherous abyss. Gossip and calumny, multiplied through eight faces and nine mouths, carve through the most sacred institutions like an axe through jade.