遯 → 履
Hexagram 33: Retreat → Hexagram 10: Treading
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3).
Line 1
初六 遯尾厲。勿用有攸往。
Six at the beginning means: At the tail in retreat. This is dangerous. One must not wish to undertake anything.
Line 2
六二 執之用黃牛之革。莫之勝說。
Six in the second place means: he holds him fast with yellow oxhide. No one can tear him loose.
Line 3
九三 係遯。有疾厲。畜臣妾吉。
Nine in the third place means: A halted retreat Is nerve-wracking and dangerous. To retain people as men- and maidservants Brings good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
老耄罷極，無取中直，懸輿致仕，得歸鄉里。
Old and exhausted, spent to the limit; no strength left for uprightness. He suspends his carriage and retires from office; finding his way home to his native village.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the mountain opens onto heaven over lake — Treading, where one walks carefully upon the tiger's tail. An aged official, exhausted and spent, can no longer find fairness or uprightness within himself. He suspends his carriage and retires from office, returning at last to his native village. The phrase 'suspending the carriage' (懸輿致仕) is a classical expression for retirement: the official literally hangs up the vehicle of his rank. From Retreat to Treading, withdrawal takes on ceremonial dignity. Treading's image is proper conduct — knowing precisely where to place one's feet. The old minister's retirement is the consummate act of treading correctly: knowing when one has lost the capacity to serve and withdrawing before that weakness harms others.
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