坎 → 既濟
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 63: After Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
行旅困蹴，失明守宿。囹圄之憂，啟執出遊。
The traveler, weary and hard-pressed, loses his sight and rests in lodging. The worry of prison and chains -- yet the door opens, and one goes forth to travel again.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, the traveler is brought low. Exhausted and stumbling on the road, losing sight and forced to shelter for the night — then the anxiety of imprisonment, the walls of a jail closing in. But the verse resolves: the gate opens, the prisoner is released, and free wandering resumes. The structure moves from travel-fatigue through incarceration to liberation. From The Abysmal to After Completion, water sits above fire in perfect balance — everything in its proper place, the crossing already achieved. The prisoner freed embodies this completion: the worst has passed, the ordeal is over, and one emerges on the other side. Yet After Completion counsels vigilance against complacency, for the completed state is inherently fragile.
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