蹇 → 豫
Hexagram 39: Obstruction → Hexagram 16: Enthusiasm
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5).
Line 3
九三 往蹇來反。
Nine in the third place means: Going leads to obstructions; Hence he comes back.
Line 4
六四 往蹇來連。
Six in the fourth place means: Going leads to obstructions, Coming leads to union.
Line 5
九五 大蹇朋來。
Nine in the fifth place means: In the midst of the greatest obstructions, Friends come.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
川淵難遊，水為我憂。多言少實，命鹿為駒。建德開基，君子逢時。利以仲疑。
Rivers and depths are hard to swim; water brings me worry. Much talk and little substance, calling a deer a colt. Establishing virtue and laying foundations; the gentleman meets his time. Profitable through the second divination.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water on the mountain deepens into a treacherous abyss. Rivers and pools are perilous to swim; water itself becomes the source of worry. Many words but little substance — someone 'calls a deer a horse,' inverting truth for political advantage, echoing Zhao Gao's infamous manipulation at the Qin court. Yet the verse turns: a man of established virtue lays foundations, and the superior person encounters his proper time. The phrase 'calling a deer a horse' signals deliberate deception at the highest level, where language itself becomes a weapon against reality. From Obstruction to Enthusiasm, thunder erupts from the earth in a surge of mobilizing energy. The transformation promises that once deception is exposed and true virtue finds its moment, the frozen obstruction breaks into collective celebration.
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