坎 → 鼎
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 50: The Cauldron
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5, 6).
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
探巢捕魚，耕田捕鰌，費日無功，右手空虛。
Raiding nests, catching fish; plowing fields, hunting loach. Days spent for nothing; the right hand is empty.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, effort yields nothing. Raiding nests, catching fish, plowing fields, and hunting loach — every method of acquiring sustenance is attempted, consuming the entire day, yet the right hand remains empty. The verse catalogs failed techniques: climbing for eggs, netting for fish, farming for grain, all exhausting and fruitless. From The Abysmal to The Cauldron, fire should blaze above wood to cook raw material into refined nourishment. Yet without ingredients to place in the cauldron, the transformative vessel sits empty. The Cauldron demands that one first secure the substance before attempting the refinement. All the activity in the world cannot fill an empty pot.
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