坎 → 比
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 8: Holding Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 2).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
禹鑿龍門，通利水泉。同注滄海，民得安土。
Yu carved open the Dragon Gate, freeing the waterways and springs. Together they pour into the vast sea; the people find peace upon their land.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, the doubled abyss recalls the primordial flood. Yu the Great carved open Dragon Gate, clearing the channel so the waters could flow freely to their springs and rivers. All streams converge and pour together into the vast sea, and the people at last find stable ground to dwell upon. The verse celebrates the archetypal act of hydraulic engineering: not damming the flood but giving it a path. From The Abysmal to Holding Together, perilous water becomes water upon earth — no longer threatening but unifying. Yu's achievement is the very image of Holding Together: by opening channels rather than building walls, diverse waters flow as one toward their common destination.
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