坎 → 巽
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 3, 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 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
輕車醊祖，焱風暴起，促亂祭器，飛揚錯華，明神降佑，道無害寇。
A light cart pours libation to the ancestors; a sudden gale erupts. It upends the ritual vessels; blossoms and ornaments fly and scatter. The bright spirits send down their blessing; the road is free of harm and raiders.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, a sacrificial procession is thrown into chaos. The light carriage sets out to make offerings to the ancestors when a violent whirlwind erupts, scattering the ritual vessels and sending the flower arrangements flying in confusion. Yet despite this disruption, the bright spirits descend with their blessing, and the road ahead is free from harm and bandits. The verse moves from orderly ritual through violent interruption to divine protection. From The Abysmal to The Gentle, doubled wind penetrates everywhere with quiet persistence. The whirlwind that scattered the offerings is wind's destructive face; the divine protection that follows is wind's penetrating grace. The Gentle commands through repeated gentle influence — even after chaos, the mandate reasserts itself.
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