蹇 → 離

Commentary

Water on the mountain witnesses a military blunder of the Ying clan — the surname of the Qin ruling house. The Ying lord disregards sound counsel and sends Meng to seek battle. But the army grows weary from prolonged campaigning, and defeat comes at the hands of a Qi minister. This likely alludes to a Qin military failure against the state of Qi, where overextension and poor strategy led to humiliation. From Obstruction to The Clinging, double fire blazes with penetrating clarity. The Clinging demands attachment to what is bright and correct. The Ying lord's error was precisely a failure to cling to good counsel — 'disregarding the worthy' (違良) — and instead clinging to aggressive ambition. Fire illuminates both triumph and folly; here it exposes the ruin that follows when leaders attach themselves to the wrong course.