夬 → 困
Hexagram 43: Breakthrough → Hexagram 47: Oppression
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 3).
Line 1
初九 壯于前趾。往不勝為咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Mighty in the forward-striding toes. When one goes and is not equal to the task, One makes a mistake.
Line 3
九三 壯于頄。有凶。君子夬夬。獨行遇雨。若濡有慍。无咎。
Nine in the third place means: To be powerful in the cheekbones Brings misfortune. The superior man is firmly resolved. He walks alone and is caught in the rain. He is bespattered, And people murmur against him. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
五龍俱超，強者敢走。露我苗稼，年歲大有。
Five dragons all soar; the strongest dares to run. They bare our seedling crops; the year yields a great harvest.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake risen above heaven hovers over the lake drained of its water. Five dragons soar together, the strongest daring to run ahead. Dew moistens the crops and grain, and the year's harvest is bountiful. The five dragons may represent the five directional spirits of Han cosmology, their united flight signaling heaven's full engagement with the earth's fertility. Dew falling on the fields is gentle, nourishing moisture — not the violent rain of storms but the subtle gift of dawn. From Breakthrough to Oppression, the irony is complete: Oppression shows a lake without water, a condition of utter depletion. Yet the verse fills this depleted image with dragons and abundant harvest, suggesting that even within exhaustion, breakthroughs of celestial energy can replenish what was empty.
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