臨 → 困
Hexagram 19: Approach → Hexagram 47: Oppression
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5).
Line 1
初九 咸臨貞吉。
Nine at the beginning means: Joint approach. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Line 4
六四 至臨。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: Complete approach. No blame.
Line 5
六五 知臨。大君之宜。吉。
Six in the fifth place means: Wise approach. This is right for a great prince. Good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
履危不止，與鬼相視；驚恐失氣，如騎虎尾。
Treading danger without stopping, one stares face to face with ghosts; startled and gasping for breath, as though riding the tail of a tiger.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth above the lake sinks into the lake drained of water — the Oppression of exhausted resources. Treading danger without stopping, one comes face to face with ghosts. Terror drains the breath away, as if riding a tiger's tail. The verse piles peril upon peril: walking into hazard, confronting spectral forces, losing one's vital energy to sheer fright. The tiger-tail image inverts the assurance of Hexagram 10 (Treading) — there, the tiger does not bite; here, the rider is paralyzed with terror. From Approach to Oppression, the lake's generosity runs dry. When the water is gone from the marsh, one is trapped: resources depleted, courage exhausted, facing terrors that cannot be fought because there is nothing left to fight with.
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