屯 → 既濟
Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning → Hexagram 63: After Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 3).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
棟隆輔強，寵貴日光。福善並作，樂以高明。
The ridgepole rises strong, the supports firm; honored and esteemed, the radiance grows daily. Blessings and virtue arise together; joy in lofty brilliance.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds and thunder transform into water above fire: initial difficulty reaches the balanced completion of After Completion. The ridgepole rises strong and the supports stand firm. Honor and esteem grow daily bright. Blessings and goodness arise together, and delight reaches the heights of clarity. Every element of the verse names structural soundness: the ridgepole — the central beam of governance — holds, the supports do not crack, and the building radiates stability. From Difficulty at the Beginning to After Completion, water sits properly above fire, each element in its correct place. Ji Ji represents the moment when all lines are where they should be, and the verse celebrates that rare achievement. Yet the I-Ching warns that After Completion is inherently unstable; the very perfection of the arrangement means it can only deteriorate. The verse captures the apex before the inevitable turn.
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