屯 → 旅
Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning → Hexagram 56: The Wanderer
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).
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 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
雙鳧俱飛，欲歸稻食。經涉萑澤，為矢所射，傷我胸臆。
A pair of wild ducks fly together, wanting to return and feed on rice. Passing through the reed marshes, they are struck by arrows that pierce breast and wing.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds and thunder give way to fire upon mountain: initial difficulty transforms into the precarious state of The Wanderer. A pair of wild ducks fly together, hoping to return home to feed on rice. But crossing a marsh thick with reeds, they are struck by arrows that pierce their breasts. The paired ducks — a symbol of conjugal fidelity — meet disaster in transit. The journey home, which should be safe, crosses hostile territory, and the travelers are struck down before reaching their destination. From Difficulty at the Beginning to The Wanderer, fire on the mountain burns briefly and moves on, offering no permanent shelter. The wanderer is always exposed, always in passage, and the verse demonstrates the specific danger: it is between places, in the transitional marsh, that violence finds its opportunity.
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