屯 → 咸
Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning → Hexagram 31: Influence
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4).
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 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 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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
炎絕續光，火滅復明。簡易理得，以成乾功。
The flame goes out, the light continues; the fire dies, then blazes again. Simple and easy, the principle is grasped; thereby the work of Qian is accomplished.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds and thunder yield to lake atop mountain: initial difficulty transforms into mutual influence. A flame extinguished revives its light; a fire quenched blazes again. Through simplicity and ease the principle is grasped, and the work of heaven is accomplished. The verse celebrates resilience: what appears to die springs back, because its underlying pattern endures. From Difficulty at the Beginning to Influence, the lake resting on the mountain creates receptive stillness that invites spontaneous response. Xian operates through emptiness and openness, not through force. The fire's revival embodies this: it reignites not because someone stokes it but because the conditions for combustion remain. Initial difficulty resolves when one stops forcing and allows natural resonance to operate.
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