坎 → 訟
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 6: Conflict
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 4, 6).
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 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
眾鳥所翔，中有大壯。爪牙長頭，為我驚憂。
Where many birds fly, among them a great and powerful one. Talons long, head massive; it is the cause of my alarm and dread.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, danger lurks where many gather. Among a flock of birds soars one massive creature, with fearsome talons and an elongated head — a raptor that dwarfs its fellows and fills the observer with dread. The character 壯 (strong, imposing) evokes raw dominance within a group. This is not a protective power but an alarming one: something predatory has entered the communal space. From The Abysmal to Conflict, water and heaven move in opposite directions, and the verse captures that divergence. What should be a harmonious assembly is disrupted by a threatening presence, and the resulting anxiety mirrors the structure of Conflict, where opposing forces generate suspicion and fear.
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