屯 → 解
Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning → Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 2
六二 屯如邅如。乘馬班如。匪寇婚媾。女子貞不字。十年乃字。
Six in the second place means: Difficulties pile up. Horse and wagon part. He is not a robber; He wants to woo when the time comes. The maiden is chaste, She does not pledge herself. Ten years–then she pledges herself.
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
山陵丘墓，魂魄失舍。精神盡竭，長寢不覺。
Hills, mounds, and tombs; the soul and spirit lose their resting place. Vital essence is utterly spent; one lies in long sleep, never waking.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds and thunder give way to thunder above water: initial difficulty finds release, but the release here is death. Hills and burial mounds stand in rows as souls lose their dwelling. Vital spirit is entirely spent, and the sleeper lies in eternal rest, never to wake. The verse describes death without euphemism: the spirit departs, the body is interred, and consciousness ceases. From Difficulty at the Beginning to Deliverance, thunder above water should represent the liberating storm that clears obstruction. Yet this liberation is final and absolute: the soul is delivered from life itself. The deliverance of Jie pardons faults and forgives errors, but some burdens can only be released by surrendering existence entirely. The verse reminds that not all resolution brings renewal.
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