坎 → 賁
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 22: Grace
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 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 2
九二 坎有險。求小得。
Nine in the second place means: The abyss is dangerous. One should strive to attain small things only.
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 5
九五 坎不盈。祗既平。无咎。
Nine in the fifth place means: The abyss is not filled to overflowing, It is filled only to the rim. No blame.
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
南販北賈，與怨為市，利得自治。
Selling south, trading north; doing business with those one resents. Profit is gained through self-governance.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, commerce turns peril into profit. Southern vendors and northern merchants trade even with those they resent — the market compels cooperation between adversaries. Profit, once secured, governs itself. The verse is strikingly pragmatic: animosity does not prevent exchange; self-interest overrides grudges. From The Abysmal to Grace, fire illuminates the mountain's base, adorning what was rough with pattern and beauty. The raw friction of hostile trade is refined into civilized commerce, just as Grace transforms bare stone into decorated surface. Markets bring order to enmity not through moral suasion but through the mutual benefit that makes enemies into trading partners.
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