遯 → 蹇

Commentary

Heaven above the mountain confronts water upon mountain — Obstruction, where the path forward is blocked by perilous terrain. Yet the verse is unexpectedly auspicious: meeting the right moment under yang's ascendancy, one attains both wealth and honor. The brevity is striking — only eight characters — as if the oracle has no need to elaborate when fortune is this clear. From Retreat to Obstruction, the mountain's withdrawal encounters the mountain that blocks. Water pooling atop the mountain creates a treacherous landscape. But the verse insists that timing transforms everything: 'meeting the moment' (逢時) is the key that unlocks obstruction. The retreating figure who encounters difficulty at precisely the right cosmic moment discovers that obstruction itself becomes the elevation — the water on the mountain becomes a lake of blessing.