坎 → 益
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 42: Increase
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 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
設網張羅，捕魚園池。網罟自決，雖得復失。危訴之患，受其低懽。
Setting nets and spreading snares, catching fish in the garden pond. The mesh tears of itself; though caught, they are lost again. The peril of desperate accusation; one suffers its low pleasures.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, the fisherman's effort unravels. Nets and snares are set across garden pools, but the mesh tears open on its own — what was caught slips free, gains made are immediately lost. Then comes the threat of legal trouble, and joy is diminished to humiliation. The verse charts a downward spiral from overreach through loss to disgrace. From The Abysmal to Increase, wind and thunder should work together to multiply benefit — the gentleman sees good and moves toward it. Yet this verse shows Increase's shadow: grasping for more with faulty instruments produces less. The net that breaks itself is the emblem of ambition undermined by inadequate preparation.
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