屯 → 漸
Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning → Hexagram 53: Development
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 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 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 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
二人俱東，道路爭訟。意乖不同，使君忷忷。
Two men both head east; on the road they fall into dispute. Their intentions diverge and clash; they make their lord anxious and agitated.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds and thunder transform into wind above mountain: initial difficulty aspires toward gradual development, but discord intervenes. Two people travel east together yet quarrel on the road, their intentions diverging and incompatible. The dispute agitates the lord and prevents progress. Wind above the mountain is the image of trees growing slowly on high ground — Development proceeds step by step, organically. But the verse shows what happens when those who should advance together cannot agree on direction: the gradual process stalls. From Difficulty at the Beginning to Development, the transformation promises organic growth, but shared purpose is the precondition. When companions quarrel on the path, even the gentlest upward momentum is arrested, and the lord is left troubled rather than elevated.
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