解 → 蹇
Hexagram 40: Deliverance → Hexagram 39: Obstruction
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5).
Line 2
九二 田獲三狐。得黃矢。貞吉。
Nine in the second place means: One kills three foxes in the field And receives a yellow arrow. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Line 3
六三 負且乘。致寇至。貞吝。
Six in the third place means: If a man carries a burden on his back And nonetheless rides in a carriage, He thereby encourages robbers to draw near. Perseverance leads to humiliation.
Line 4
九四 解而拇。朋至斯孚。
Nine in the fourth place means: Deliver yourself from your great toe. Then the companion comes, And him you can trust.
Line 5
六五 君子維有解。吉。有孚于小人。
Six in the fifth place means: If only the superior man can deliver himself, It brings good fortune. Thus he proves to inferior men that he is in earnest.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
四姦為殘，齊魯道難。前驅執殳，戒守无患。
Four villains work their ruin; the road between Qi and Lu is perilous. The vanguard bears his halberd; keeping watch and guard, there is no disaster.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder over water freezes into water atop the mountain — the cold impasse of Obstruction. Four villains conspire to wreak destruction; the roads of Qi and Lu grow dangerous. But vanguard soldiers bearing weapons stand ready, and watchful defense wards off disaster. The verse names specific geography — the borderlands between Qi and Lu — as a zone of banditry or invasion, and prescribes military vigilance as the remedy. From Deliverance to Obstruction, the release from one danger reveals another blocking the path. Water on the mountain cannot flow freely; the gentleman turns inward to cultivate virtue. Yet the verse insists on active defense: obstruction is navigated not by passivity but by readiness.
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