損 → 蹇
Hexagram 41: Decrease → Hexagram 39: Obstruction
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 已事遄往。无咎。酌損之。
Nine at the beginning means: Going quickly when one's tasks are finished Is without blame. But one must reflect on how much one may decrease others.
Line 2
九二 利貞。征凶。弗損益之。
Nine in the second place means: Perseverance furthers. To undertake something brings misfortune. Without decreasing oneself, One is able to bring increase to others.
Line 3
六三 三人行。則損一人。一人行。則得其友。
Six in the third place means: When three people journey together, Their number decreases by one. When one man journeys alone, He finds a companion.
Line 5
六五 或益之十朋之龜。弗克違。元吉。
Six in the fifth place means: Someone does indeed increase him. Ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it. Supreme good fortune.
Line 6
上九 弗損益之。无咎。貞吉。利有攸往。得臣无家。
Nine at the top means: If one is increased without depriving others, There is no blame. Perseverance brings good fortune. It furthers one to undertake something. One obtains servants But no longer has a separate home.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
鴻飛遵陸，公歸不復，伯氏客宿。
The wild goose follows the land, walking instead of flying. The duke departs and does not return; the elder lodges abroad.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain above lake becomes water above mountain — Obstruction, where the path ahead is blocked by perilous water upon the mountain. Wild geese follow the land route, the duke departs and does not return, the elder brother lodges abroad as a stranger. The geese that should fly now walk; the lord who left never comes home; family members scatter into exile. The Shijing's 'Geese follow the land' (鴻飛遵陸) evokes displacement — waterfowl forced onto dry ground, creatures out of their element. From Decrease to Obstruction, the lake freezes into treacherous water pooling atop the mountain, blocking all forward progress. Decrease has removed the resources needed for the journey, and what remains is a diminished household stranded on opposite sides of an impassable barrier.
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