坎 → 歸妹
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5).
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 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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
南至之日，陽消不息，北風烈寒，萬物藏伏。
On the day of the southern solstice, yang wanes without rest. The north wind is fierce and cold; the ten thousand things hide and shelter.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, the calendar turns toward its darkest point. At the winter solstice — the day the sun reaches its southernmost limit — yang energy has been consumed without ceasing, and bitter north winds bring killing cold. All living things withdraw into hiding. The verse captures the cosmological nadir: the sun at its weakest, cold at its fiercest, nature in full retreat. From The Abysmal to The Marrying Maiden, thunder stirs above the lake — the impulsive, irreversible act of giving the younger daughter in marriage. The solstice marks a similar threshold: once the sun reaches its extreme, the return is inevitable. Even total withdrawal contains the seed of the next emergence, though the timing cannot be forced.
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