恆 → 蹇
Hexagram 32: Duration → Hexagram 39: Obstruction
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 5).
Line 2
九二 悔亡。
Nine in the second place means: Remorse disappears.
Line 4
九四 田无禽。
Nine in the fourth place means: No game in the field.
Line 5
六五 恒其德貞。婦人吉。夫子凶。
Six in the fifth place means: Giving duration to one's character through perseverance. This is good fortune for a woman, misfortune for a man.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
蓼蕭瀼瀼，君子龍光，鳴鸞雍雍，福祿來同。
Smartweed lush with heavy dew; the noble man shines with dragon-light. Luan-birds cry in harmony; fortune and blessing arrive together.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder above wind, Duration's vital rhythm, encounters water above mountain — Obstruction's formidable terrain. Yet the verse offers not difficulty but splendor: the liao and xiao plants drip with dew, the gentleman radiates dragon-light. Luan birds cry in harmony, and blessings and bounty arrive together. The imagery draws from the Shijing ode 'Liao Xiao' (蓼蕭), which celebrates the generous dew that graces all plants equally — a metaphor for a ruler's impartial beneficence. The luan bird's harmonious cry signals celestial approval. From Duration to Obstruction, the mountain blocked by water should impede progress, yet the verse transforms the obstacle into a site of concentrated blessing. The gentleman who persists through Obstruction's terrain does not merely survive but shines.
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