大畜 → 困
Hexagram 26: Great Taming → Hexagram 47: Oppression
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 有厲。利已。
Nine at the beginning means: Danger is at hand. It furthers one to desist.
Line 3
九三 良馬逐。利艱貞。曰閑輿衛。利有攸往。
Nine in the third place means. A good horse that follows others. Awareness of danger, With perseverance, furthers. Practice chariot driving and armed defense daily. It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
Line 4
六四 童牛之牿。元吉。
Six in the fourth place means: The headboard of a young bull. Great good fortune.
Line 5
六五 豶豕之牙。吉。
Six in the fifth place means: The tusk of a gelded boar. Good fortune.
Line 6
上九 何天之衢。亨。
Nine at the top means: One attains the way of heaven. Success.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
雨雪三日，鳥獸飢乏。旅人失宜，利不可得。幾言解患，以療紛難。危者復安。
Rain and snow for three days; birds and beasts starve and falter. The traveler finds no lodging; profit cannot be obtained. A few apt words dispel the trouble, healing the tangled difficulty. Those in peril are restored to peace.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven stored within the mountain meets the lake drained of water — Oppression. Rain and snow fall for three days straight; birds and beasts go hungry and weak. The traveler finds nothing favorable, and profit lies beyond reach. Then the verse turns: a few well-chosen words resolve the crisis, healing the tangled difficulties. The endangered find safety again. The first half depicts the desolation of Oppression — the lake is dry, resources exhausted, and all creatures suffer. But the second half enacts Oppression's secret teaching: the gentleman 'stakes his life to carry out his purpose.' Sometimes a single phrase of wisdom penetrates where force cannot. From Great Taming to Oppression, accumulated reserves face their ultimate test. Not all reserves are material; the most potent may be a timely word.
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