臨 → 井
Hexagram 19: Approach → Hexagram 48: The Well
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5).
Line 1
初九 咸臨貞吉。
Nine at the beginning means: Joint approach. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Line 3
六三 甘臨。无攸利。既憂之。无咎。
Six in the third place means: Comfortable approach. Nothing that would further. If one is induced to grieve over it, One becomes free of 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
秋南春北，不失消息；涉和履中，時無隱慝。
South in autumn, north in spring, never missing the season turning; treading harmony and holding the center -- no hidden wickedness in any season.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth above the lake descends to water above wood — the Well's inexhaustible nourishment. Migrating south in autumn, returning north in spring, never losing the rhythm of the seasons. Walking in harmony and treading the middle path, the times hold no hidden treachery. The verse describes perfect attunement to natural cycles — birds migrating with the seasons, the sage following the Way without deviation. Nothing is concealed; everything moves openly. From Approach to the Well, the lake's surface waters deepen into the well's permanent source. The well does not migrate, yet it nourishes all who come to it season after season. Constancy and transparency sustain the rhythm that makes life possible.
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