坎 → 艮
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 52: Keeping Still Mountain
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5, 6).
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 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
妄怒失精，自令畏悔，忪忪之懼，君子無咎。
Reckless anger wastes one's spirit; it brings only fear and regret. Trembling with dread; the noble man bears no blame.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, reckless anger wastes vital energy. Unfounded rage depletes one's essence, breeding self-inflicted fear and regret. Trembling with anxiety, the spirit is shaken — yet for the gentleman, there is no blame. The verse diagnoses the pathology of misdirected emotion: anger without cause exhausts the body and frightens the soul, but the self-aware person recognizes this pattern and stops. From The Abysmal to Keeping Still, surging water comes to rest as the doubled mountain. The transformation prescribes the cure: stillness arrests the hemorrhage of spirit. The gentleman thinks without exceeding his position, and by refusing to chase phantom provocations, he reclaims the energy that anger squandered.
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