蹇 → 復
Hexagram 39: Obstruction → Hexagram 24: Return
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5).
Line 1
初六 往蹇來譽。
Six at the beginning means: Going leads to obstructions, Coming meets with praise.
Line 3
九三 往蹇來反。
Nine in the third place means: Going leads to obstructions; Hence he comes back.
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
日入道極，勞者休息。班馬還師，復我燕室。
The sun sets at the road's end; the weary find their rest. The army's horses return from campaign, restored to our peaceful chambers.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water on the mountain yields to the setting sun and the end of a long march. As daylight fades, the weary rest at last. The war-horses are called home, the army disbands, and the speaker returns to his own chamber. 'Calling the horses home' (班馬還師) evokes the formal order to withdraw troops — a commander's decision that the campaign is over. From Obstruction to Return, thunder stirs within the earth at the winter solstice. Return marks the first stirring of yang after the darkest point: the solstice rest, when gates are closed and travelers stay home. The verse maps perfectly onto this image: the exhausted journey ends, the horses return to their stable, the soldier to his room. Obstruction does not end in triumph but in the quiet recognition that one has come far enough, and it is time to turn back.
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