坎 → 頤
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 27: Nourishment
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 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
欲飛無翼，鼎重折足。失其喜利，苞羞為賊。上妻之家，喜除我憂，解吾思愁。
Wishing to fly, but lacking wings; the cauldron, heavy, breaks its leg. Losing one's joy and profit; wrapped disgrace becomes a thief. Going to the wife's family home -- joy dispels my worry, unraveling my sorrow.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, the doubled abyss, gives way to the mountain's nourishing stillness. A creature longs to fly but has no wings; the great cauldron, too heavy for its legs, snaps its foot and spills its contents. This directly quotes the I-Ching's Ding hexagram, line nine-four: 'The ding breaks its foot, overturning the duke's food; his appearance is drenched.' The loss is compounded by 'harboring shame,' echoing hexagram Pi (Standstill), line six-three, where shame is wrapped up and hidden rather than confronted. Ambition exceeds capacity, and concealed disgrace festers. Yet resolution comes through family: marrying into a wife's household dissolves worry and lifts sorrow. From The Abysmal to Nourishment, peril transforms into sustenance when one accepts humility and finds support in domestic bonds rather than overreaching for glory.
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