屯 → 晉
Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning → Hexagram 35: Progress
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5, 6).
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.
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
烏鳴嘻嘻，天火將起。燔我室屋，災及姬后。
The crow cries xi-xi; heavenly fire is about to rise. It burns our chambers and rooms; the disaster reaches the lady of Ji.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds and thunder transform into fire emerging from earth: initial difficulty erupts into disastrous brilliance. Crows cry out in alarm as heavenly fire prepares to strike. The flames consume house and chamber, and the disaster reaches the lord's consort. In Han omenology, crows cawing before a fire were considered dire portents. The fire is 'heavenly' — not set by human hands but descending as cosmic judgment. From Difficulty at the Beginning to Progress, fire rising above earth should signify the advance of bright virtue, yet here that same fire destroys rather than illuminates. The light that was meant to clarify instead scorches everything in its path. Progress without restraint becomes conflagration, and the initial difficulty does not resolve — it ignites.
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