困 → 蹇
Hexagram 47: Oppression → Hexagram 39: Obstruction
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4).
Line 2
九二 困于酒食。朱紱方來。利用享祀。征凶无咎。
Nine in the second place means: One is oppressed while at meat and drink. The man with the scarlet knee bands is just coming. It furthers one to offer sacrifice. To set forth brings misfortune. No blame.
Line 3
六三 困于石。據于蒺蔾。入于其宮。不見其妻。凶。
Six in the third place means: A man permits himself to be oppressed by stone, And leans on thorns and thistles. He enters the house and does not see his wife. Misfortune.
Line 4
九四 來徐徐。困于金車。吝。有終。
Nine in the fourth place means: He comes very quietly, oppressed in a golden carriage. Humiliation, but the end is reached.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
僮子射御，不知所定。質疑蓍龜，孰知所避？國安土樂，宜利止居。兵寇不至，民无騷擾。
The young one shoots and drives, not knowing where to settle. Consulting milfoil and tortoiseshell, who can know what to avoid? The state is secure, the land content, fit for lasting dwelling. Soldiers and brigands do not come; the people suffer no disturbance.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake without water: a young boy handles the bow and reins but does not know where to aim. He consults the milfoil stalks and tortoise shells, yet who truly knows what to avoid? Then the verse pivots: the state is at peace, the land content, well-suited for settled dwelling. Soldiers and bandits do not come, and the people are free from disturbance. The untrained youth and the uncertain divination set up an expectation of trouble that never materializes. From Oppression to Obstruction, water pools upon the mountain, and the gentleman turns inward to cultivate virtue. The paradox resolves itself: when one ceases straining for control and simply reflects, the danger passes on its own. Peace was always available; it was the anxious searching that obscured it.
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