姤 → 屯
Hexagram 44: Coming to Meet → Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 6).
Line 1
初六 繫于金柅。貞吉。有攸往。見凶。羸豕孚蹢躅。
Six at the beginning means: It must be checked with a brake of bronze. Perseverance brings good fortune. If one lets it take its course, one experiences misfortune. Even a lean pig has it in him to rage around.
Line 2
九二 包有魚。无咎。不利賓。
Nine in the second place means: There is a fish in the tank. No blame. Does not further guests.
Line 3
九三 臀无膚。其行次且。厲。无大咎。
Nine in the third place means: There is no skin on his thighs, And walking comes hard. If one is mindful of the danger, No great mistake is made.
Line 4
九四 包无魚。起凶。
Nine in the fourth place means: No fish in the tank. This leads to misfortune.
Line 6
上九 姤其角。吝。无咎。
Nine at the top means: He comes to meet with his horns. Humiliation. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
登山上谷，與虎相觸。猬為功曹，班叔奔北，脫之嘉國。
Climbing the mountain, entering the valley; encountering a tiger. The hedgehog serves as marshal; Ban Shu flees north, escaping to the good land.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind beneath heaven meets gathering storm clouds. Climbing the mountain into a high valley, one encounters a tiger head-on — mortal danger in wild terrain. Yet the hedgehog serves as Chief Clerk, pinning the beast down through bureaucratic cunning rather than brute force. Ban Shu flees northward and escapes to a safe refuge. The 'hedgehog as Gongcao' draws on natural lore from the Shiji: the spiny hedgehog can subdue even the tiger. The Gongcao was the most powerful local official in Han-era governance. From Coming to Meet to Difficulty at the Beginning, the clouds and thunder of Zhun signal that perilous encounters can be navigated through cleverness and institutional cunning, not raw strength.
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