蹇 → 豐
Hexagram 39: Obstruction → Hexagram 55: Abundance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5).
Line 1
初六 往蹇來譽。
Six at the beginning means: Going leads to obstructions, Coming meets with praise.
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
延頸望邑,恩歸其室。臺榭不成,未得安息。
Craning his neck, he gazes toward the city, hoping grace will return to his home. Terraces and pavilions remain unfinished; he has not yet found rest.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water on the mountain leaves the traveler straining to see home. Stretching one's neck to gaze toward the distant city, longing for grace to return to one's household. Yet the terraces and pavilions are never completed, and rest remains elusive. The image combines homesickness with frustrated ambition: the speaker can see where he wants to be but cannot arrive, and the structures he hoped to build remain unfinished. From Obstruction to Abundance, thunder and lightning combine in the fullest display of energy. Abundance promises the zenith of power and illumination, but the verse reveals what happens when Abundance remains just out of reach: the terraces that should crown the estate stand half-built, and the traveler who should be feasting in his completed hall is still craning his neck on the mountain road.
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