坎 → 咸
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 31: Influence
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
風塵瞑迷，不見南北。行人失路，復反其室。
Wind and dust, dark and blinding; north and south cannot be seen. The traveler loses the road and turns back to his home.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, dust storms obliterate all direction. Wind and grit fill the air until north and south are indistinguishable — the traveler loses the road entirely. Yet the verse resolves gently: unable to find the way forward, the wanderer turns back and returns home. From The Abysmal to Influence, the mountain supports the lake above in receptive stillness — the image of mutual attraction through emptiness. The lost traveler who returns home enacts Influence's mechanism: when external orientation fails, one turns inward, and the heart's magnetic pull draws one back to where connection is possible. Disorientation becomes the precondition for genuine encounter.
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