遯 → 晉

Commentary

Heaven above the mountain freezes into fire over earth — Progress, where the sun rises above the horizon. Yet the verse describes the opposite: deep snow and bitter cold, nothing grows. Yin energy suppresses all life, and the season itself imposes poverty. The sun of Progress cannot penetrate the accumulated cold; the advance is blocked by winter's dominion. From Retreat to Progress, withdrawal should yield to emergence — light breaking from the earth. But the retreating figure encounters an environment so hostile that even the promise of dawn is frozen solid. The verse captures the moment when retreat has lasted through the hardest season and progress remains theoretical — the sun exists but its warmth cannot reach the buried seeds. Winter's grip must loosen before any advance can begin.