困 → 蒙
Hexagram 47: Oppression → Hexagram 4: Youthful Folly
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 4, 5, 6).
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.
Line 5
九五 劓刖。困于赤紱。乃徐有說。利用祭祀。
Nine in the fifth place means: His nose and feet are cut off. Oppression at the hands of the man with the purple knee bands. Joy comes softly. It furthers one to make offerings and libations.
Line 6
上六 困于葛藟。于臲卼。曰動悔有悔。征吉。
Six at the top means: He is oppressed by creeping vines. He moves uncertainly and says, "Movement brings remorse. " If one feels remorse over this and makes a start, Good fortune comes.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
庇盧不明,使孔德妨。女孽亂國,虐政傷仁。
A shelter dim and unlit, obstructing Confucius's virtue. A woman's mischief disorders the state; tyrannical rule injures benevolence.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake without water, the dwelling darkened, its shelter offering no clarity. Virtue of the highest order is obstructed. The verse alludes to the incident when the state of Qi sent a troupe of female musicians to Lu, captivating Duke Ding and his minister Ji Huanzi so thoroughly that court business was abandoned for days. Confucius, whose moral authority (kong de, 'great virtue') was thereby undermined, departed Lu in disappointment. A woman's seductive influence disorders the state; cruel governance wounds benevolence. From Oppression to Youthful Folly, a spring emerges beneath a mountain but gropes in darkness. When those in power are beguiled by spectacle, wisdom goes unheeded and the state stumbles blindly forward, its judgment cloaked in fog.
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