蹇 → 屯
Hexagram 39: Obstruction → Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 3).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
作室山根，人以為安。一旦崩頹，敗我盤飡。
A house built on a mountain's base; people thought it safe. One morning it collapses and crumbles, ruining our meal and board.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water pools dangerously on the mountainside, and a house built on a cliff-root collapses without warning. The dwelling seemed secure — anchored to the mountain's base, it gave every appearance of stability. Then one day the slope gives way, the walls crumble, and even the meal on the table is ruined. The verse captures the treachery of false security: what looked like solid ground was always precarious. From Obstruction to Difficulty at the Beginning, water atop the mountain transforms into clouds and thunder churning below — the chaos of new emergence. The collapse is not an ending but a violent return to the primordial state where everything must be rebuilt from scratch. The beginning that follows destruction is harder than any first attempt, for it carries the memory of what was lost.
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