坎 → 離
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 30: The Clinging Fire
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 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 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 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
陰生麇鹿，鼠舞鬼哭。靈龜陸蒙，釜甑草土。仁智盤桓，國亂無緒。
In the yin, deer are born; rats dance, ghosts wail. The sacred tortoise is stranded on land; cauldrons and steamers fill with weeds and earth. The wise and humane hesitate; the state is in chaos, without order.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, the world inverts into nightmare. Yin energy breeds deer where none should roam, rats dance, and ghosts wail — all signs of cosmic disorder. The sacred tortoise, which should divine in water, is stranded on dry land beneath a shroud. Cauldrons and steamers fill with weeds and dirt instead of sacrificial grain. The wise and humane pace back and forth, helpless before a state in total disarray. From The Abysmal to The Clinging, water should yield to doubled fire — clarity illuminating clarity. But this verse shows fire's terrifying inverse: when illumination fails, the yin creatures overrun the world, and even the instruments of divination and ritual lie buried in dust.
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