屯 → 豫
Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning → Hexagram 16: Enthusiasm
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5).
Line 1
初九 磐桓。利居貞。利建侯。
Nine at the beginning means: Hesitation and hindrance. It furthers one to remain persevering. It furthers one to appoint helpers.
Line 4
六四 乘馬班如。求婚媾。往吉。无不利。
Six in the fourth place means: Horse and wagon part. Strive for union. To go brings good fortune. Everything acts to further.
Line 5
九五 屯其膏。小貞吉。大貞凶。
Nine in the fifth place means: Difficulties in blessing. A little perseverance brings good fortune. Great perseverance brings misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
重茵厚席，循皋採藿。雖躓不懼，反復其宅。
Thick quilts, heavy mats; following the marshes to gather greens. Though one stumbles, there is no fear; one returns again to one’s home.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds and thunder give way to thunder bursting from the earth: initial difficulty transforms into joyful readiness. Thick quilts and layered mats cushion the ground as someone gathers greens along the marsh banks. Though stumbling, there is no fear, for the traveler always returns to his dwelling. The imagery pairs material comfort with pastoral foraging, a life simple but secure. From Difficulty at the Beginning to Enthusiasm, the energy that was tangled in Zhun's birth-pangs now erupts freely through earth. Thunder emerging from below shakes the ground with creative force, yet the verse tempers this with domestic assurance: one may stumble on the path, but the way home remains certain. Difficulty has been domesticated into resilient contentment.
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