屯 → 賁
Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning → Hexagram 22: Grace
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).
Line 3
六三 即鹿無虞。惟入于林中。君子幾不如舍。往吝。
Six in the third place means: Whoever hunts deer without the forester Only loses his way in the forest. The superior man understands the signs of the time And prefers to desist. To go on brings humiliation.
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.
Line 6
上六 乘馬班如。泣血漣如。
Six at the top means: Horse and wagon part. Bloody tears flow.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
路多枳棘，步刺我足。不利旅客，為心作毒。
The road is thick with thorns; each step pierces my feet. Not fit for the traveler; it poisons the heart.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds and thunder transform into mountain above fire: initial difficulty meets the ornamental surface of Grace. The road is choked with thorns and brambles, piercing the traveler's feet with every step. This path offers no benefit to the wayfarer and poisons the heart with bitterness. The imagery is viscerally physical: each forward step brings pain, and the journey itself becomes toxic. From Difficulty at the Beginning to Grace, the irony cuts deep. Grace places fire beneath the mountain, illuminating form and beauty, yet the verse reveals that surface adornment cannot disguise a path that wounds. The mountain may look beautiful from afar, but the road through it is treacherous. Initial difficulty dressed in ornament remains difficulty nonetheless.
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