離 → 蠱

Commentary

Doubled fire meets wind beneath the mountain: brilliance confronts decay that must be repaired. This verse is a modern rewrite; the original reads: 'Early frost and late snow injure grain and wheat. Effort is wasted and strength abandoned; there is hunger with nothing to eat.' The original captures agricultural devastation from untimely weather. Frost and snow at wrong seasons destroy crops, rendering all labor futile. From The Clinging to Work on the Decayed, fire's clarity illuminates a system already corrupted at its root. Wind trapped beneath the mountain stirs what has stagnated into decay. The verse confronts the bitter truth that when fundamental conditions are hostile, no amount of diligence can salvage the harvest, and one must begin the painful work of renewal from bare ground.