遯 → 訟
Hexagram 33: Retreat → Hexagram 6: Conflict
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 2, 3).
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
德積不輕，辭王釣耕，三媒不已，大福來成。
Virtue accumulated is not slight; he declines the king to fish and plow. Three matchmakers persist without ceasing; great fortune comes to completion.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the mountain transforms into heaven over water — Conflict, where opposing forces must be resolved through deliberation. Virtue accumulated without haste, the sage declines the king's summons and continues fishing and plowing. Three matchmakers persist in their invitations, and at last great fortune arrives. The verse almost certainly alludes to Jiang Ziya (Taigong), who fished at the Wei River until King Wen of Zhou discovered him and invited him to serve as counselor — reportedly after multiple overtures. From Retreat to Conflict, the one who retreats from the world forces the world to come seeking. The transformation reveals how strategic withdrawal creates a different kind of confrontation: not adversarial, but the tension between a ruler's need and a sage's integrity, resolved only when the invitation becomes irresistible.
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