家人 → 坎
Hexagram 37: The Family → Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 6).
Line 1
初九 閑有家。悔亡。
Nine at the beginning means: Firm seclusion within the family. Remorse disappears.
Line 2
六二 无攸遂。在中饋。貞吉。
Six in the second place means: She should not follow her whims. She must attend within to the food. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Line 3
九三 家人嗃嗃。悔厲吉。婦子嘻嘻。終吝。
Nine in the third place means: When tempers flare up in the family, Too great severity brings remorse. Good fortune nonetheless. When woman and child dally and laugh It leads in the end to humiliation.
Line 6
上九 有孚威如。終吉。
Nine at the top means: His work commands respect. In the end good fortune comes.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
吹角高邦，有夫失羊。眾民驚惶，警慎避咎，勑不行殃。
Horns blow from the high citadel; a man has lost his sheep. The people are alarmed and frightened; with caution they avoid the fault, and disaster does not fall.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind from fire stirs the family to alertness. Horns blow across the high walls of the city as a shepherd loses his flock. The people are startled and frightened, but through vigilance and caution they avoid disaster, and the command does not bring calamity. The alarm horn is an ancient warning system — its blast mobilizes the household and community to respond to approaching danger. The lost sheep suggests an initial lapse, but the response is swift and disciplined. From The Family to The Abysmal, water upon water doubles the danger. Yet the verse shows how the abyss is navigated: not by avoiding fear but by channeling it into protective action. The people's alarm becomes their salvation; they heed the horn and survive because they do not freeze.
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