坎 → 旅
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 56: The Wanderer
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 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 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
北行出門，履陷躓顛，踒足據塗，污我襦袴。
Going north, stepping out the door; the foot sinks, one stumbles and falls. Twisting the ankle, sprawled in the mud; it soils my jacket and trousers.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, the northward journey meets nothing but hazard. Stepping out the door heading north, the road gives way — foot slips, ankle twists, the traveler sprawls face-down in the mud, soiling jacket and trousers. Every line adds indignity: tripping, falling, injury, filth. The verse is a compact catalogue of the traveler's misery. From The Abysmal to The Wanderer, fire blazes atop the mountain — the stranger's campfire on unfamiliar ground, illuminating a place where one does not belong. The mud-spattered northward journey is the Wanderer's harsh initiation: far from home, dignity stripped, the alien traveler must learn that careful judgment and humility are the only protection in foreign territory.
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