蹇 → 大壯
Hexagram 39: Obstruction → Hexagram 34: Great Power
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5).
Line 1
初六 往蹇來譽。
Six at the beginning means: Going leads to obstructions, Coming meets with praise.
Line 2
六二 王臣蹇蹇。匪躬之故。
Six in the second place means: The King's servant is beset by obstruction upon obstruction, But it is not his own fault.
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
草木黃落，歲暮无室。虐政為賊，大人失福。
Grass and trees turn yellow and fall; at year's end there is no shelter. Cruel governance becomes a scourge; the great man loses his blessing.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water on the mountain presides over a desolate autumn. Grass and trees yellow and fall, the year draws to its bitter end, and there is no shelter. Cruel governance acts as a thief to the people, and the great man loses his blessings. The image layers natural decay with political misrule: winter's barrenness is compounded by oppressive leadership that strips the people bare. From Obstruction to Great Power, thunder rumbles above heaven in a display of overwhelming force. Yet the verse reveals Great Power's shadow: when power is used as 'banditry' (虐政為賊) rather than legitimate authority, the thunderous force destroys rather than invigorates. The leafless landscape is what remains when great power is wielded without propriety — the very thing the hexagram warns against when it says 'the superior man does not tread paths contrary to ritual.'
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