蹇 → 損
Hexagram 39: Obstruction → Hexagram 41: Decrease
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 6).
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 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.
Line 6
上六 往蹇來碩。吉。利見大人。
Six at the top means: Going leads to obstructions, Coming leads to great good fortune. It furthers one to see the great man.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
脫兔无蹄，三步五罷。南行不進，後市身苦。
A fleeing rabbit with no hooves; three steps and five collapses. Going south it cannot advance; its body suffers at the latter market.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water on the mountain cripples even the swiftest creatures. A rabbit that has lost its hooves — the very organ of escape — staggers three steps and collapses five times. Heading south makes no progress, and the body suffers at every market stop. The rabbit, symbol of speed and evasion, is rendered helpless by the loss of its most essential capacity. From Obstruction to Decrease, the mountain rises above the lake as resources are deliberately curtailed. Decrease teaches that sometimes reduction strengthens the whole — giving up excess to nourish the core. But the verse shows decrease without strategy: the rabbit's loss is not voluntary sacrifice but senseless deprivation. When obstruction strips away essential faculties rather than mere excess, what remains is not lean strength but pure incapacity.
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