坎 → 乾
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 1: The Creative
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 6).
Line 1
初六 習坎。入于坎窞。凶。
Six at the beginning means: Repetition of the Abysmal. In the abyss one falls into a pit. Misfortune.
Line 3
六三 來之坎坎。險且枕。入于坎窞。勿用。
Six in the third place means: Forward and backward, abyss on abyss. In danger like this, pause at first and wait, Otherwise you will fall into a pit in the abyss. Do not act this way.
Line 4
六四 樽酒簋貳。用缶。納約自牖。終无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: A jug of wine, a bowl of rice with it; Earthen vessels Simply handed in through the Window. There is certainly no blame in this.
Line 6
上六 係用徽纆。寘于叢棘。三歲不得。凶。
Six at the top means: Bound with cords and ropes, Shut in between thorn-hedged prison walls: For three years one does not find the way. Misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
太王為父，季歷孝友。文武聖明，仁德興起。弘張四國，載福綏厚。
The Great King was father; Jili was filial and fraternal. Wen and Wu were sagely and bright; benevolence and virtue arose. They spread their domain across four kingdoms, bearing blessings thick and enduring.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water flows upon water, doubled peril that tests every generation. The verse traces four generations of Zhou founders: King Tai (Gugong Danfu) established the ancestral base, his youngest son Jili earned the succession through filial devotion, and Jili's son King Wen and grandson King Wu brought sage governance and righteous conquest. Each generation built upon the last, spreading benevolent rule across the four quarters and heaping blessings upon the people. From The Abysmal to The Creative, the transformation is dramatic: repeated danger becomes self-generating initiative. The Zhou lineage did not merely endure peril — it transmuted each trial into the creative force that founded a dynasty, turning water's persistent flow into heaven's inexhaustible drive.
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