屯 → 鼎
Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning → Hexagram 50: The Cauldron
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 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 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 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.
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
區脫康居，慕義入朝。湛露之歡，三爵畢恩。復歸野廬，與母相扶。
Envoys from distant lands, drawn by righteousness, come to court. Enjoying the feast of glistening dew, three cups complete the grace. They return to their wilderness huts, supporting their mothers.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds and thunder transform into fire above wind: initial difficulty leads to the transformative vessel of The Cauldron. Envoys from the frontier post of Qutuo and the kingdom of Kangju, admiring Chinese civilization, come to pay court. The Abundant Dew banquet welcomes them with three ceremonial toasts. They then return to their frontier lodges to care for their mothers. Qutuo refers to Han-dynasty border garrison posts, and Kangju was a Central Asian kingdom described in the Shiji. The 'Abundant Dew' (zhanlu) alludes to the Shijing ode celebrating the Son of Heaven's feast for vassal lords. From Difficulty at the Beginning to The Cauldron, fire above wind cooks raw materials into refined civilization. Barbarian envoys drawn by virtue to the imperial court embody the Ding's transformative function: the cauldron refines what enters it.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store