坎 → 革
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 49: Revolution
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
東行亡羊，失其羝牂，少婦無夫，獨坐空廬。
Traveling east, the sheep are lost -- both ram and ewe gone. The young wife has no husband; she sits alone in the empty hut.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, loss scatters what should be gathered. Heading east, one loses the flock — rams and ewes vanish along the road. The young wife has no husband and sits alone in an empty house. The verse pairs economic loss with domestic abandonment: the shepherd's livelihood and the woman's companionship are both stripped away. From The Abysmal to Revolution, fire burns within the lake, and opposing forces demand transformation. Yet this verse shows the cost of revolution's dislocations: when the old order is overturned, flocks scatter and families break apart. The empty house and the lost sheep are the human residue of upheaval, the price exacted before any new order can take shape.
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