坤 → 履
Hexagram 2: The Receptive → Hexagram 10: Treading
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 履霜堅冰至。
Six at the beginning means: When there is hoarfrost underfoot, Solid ice is not far off.
Line 2
六二 直方大。不習无不利。
Six in the second place means: Straight, square, great. Without purpose, Yet nothing remains unfurthered.
Line 4
六四 括囊。无咎无譽。
Six in the fourth place means: A tied-up sack. No blame, no praise.
Line 5
六五 黃裳。元吉。
Six in the fifth place means: A yellow lower garment brings supreme good fortune.
Line 6
上六 龍戰于野。其血玄黃。
Six at the top means: Dragons fight in the meadow. Their blood is black and yellow.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
四足無角，君子所服。南征述職，以惠我國。
Four-footed and hornless, what the noble man wears. Traveling south to report on duties, thereby benefiting our state.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth upon earth transforms into heaven above the lake — Treading. A four-footed beast without horns — what gentlemen wear as their garment. Journeying south to fulfill official duties, it brings benefit to the realm. The hornless quadruped likely refers to the horse or the lamb: animals of service and docility, fit for the gentleman's use. Treading upon the tiger's tail, the image of Hexagram 10, demands propriety and careful conduct. The southward journey to report on one's duties (shuzhi) recalls the feudal practice of vassals presenting themselves at court. From the Receptive to Treading, the earth's yielding nature becomes the careful step of one who walks amid danger: humble as a hornless beast, dutiful as an official on inspection, navigating hierarchy through ritual propriety rather than aggression.
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