恆 → 訟
Hexagram 32: Duration → Hexagram 6: Conflict
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).
Line 3
九三 不恆其德。或承之羞。貞吝。
Nine in the third place means: He who does not give duration to his character Meets with disgrace. Persistent humiliation.
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.
Line 6
上六 振恆凶。
Six at the top means: Restlessness as an enduring condition brings misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
履不容足，南山多棘，毋出房闥，乃無疾病。
Shoes cannot fit the foot; the southern mountain is thick with thorns. Do not venture beyond the chamber door, and there shall be no sickness.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder above wind, Duration's rhythmic constancy, transforms into heaven above water — Conflict's opposing currents. Shoes too tight to contain the feet; the southern mountain is thick with thorns. The counsel is stark: do not leave the inner chambers, and there will be no illness. Duration's image of steady persistence meets a world where every step draws blood. The southern mountain's brambles recall the Shijing lament about impassable terrain, and the too-tight shoes suggest a station that constrains beyond endurance. From Duration to Conflict, the steady path degenerates into a disputatious landscape where advance is punished. The wisest response is withdrawal — remaining indoors averts the harm that awaits outside.
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