夬 → 井
Hexagram 43: Breakthrough → Hexagram 48: The Well
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 4).
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 4
九四 臀无膚。其行次且。牽羊悔亡。聞言不信。
Nine in the fourth place means: There is no skin on his thighs, And walking comes hard. If a man were to let himself be led like a sheep, Remorse would disappear. But if these words are heard They will not be believed.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
虎除善猛，難為功醫。驥疲鹽車，困於衘箠。
The tiger, though fierce and bold, is hard for any physician to cure. The thoroughbred wearies at the salt cart, exhausted by bit and whip.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake risen above heaven descends into the well whose water rises upon wood. The tiger is fierce and brave, yet difficult to cure when it falls ill. The thoroughbred horse, exhausted on the salt cart, suffers under bit and whip. The verse pairs two images of magnificent power degraded by circumstance. 'The thoroughbred hauling a salt cart' is a famous metaphor from the Zhanguoce: Bole wept upon seeing a thousand-li horse laboring under a salt wagon, its talent wasted. From Breakthrough to the Well, the decisive stroke should reach the deep water that nourishes all. But the verse shows resources misapplied: the tiger's strength cannot be medically treated, the horse's speed is squandered on menial labor. The well exists, but those who most need its water cannot reach it.
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