困 → 損
Hexagram 47: Oppression → Hexagram 41: Decrease
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 臀困于株木。入于幽谷。三歲不覿。
Six at the beginning means: One sits oppressed under a bare tree And strays into a gloomy valley. For three years one sees nothing.
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
離友絕朋，巧言讒匿。覆白污玉，顏叔哀哭。
Severed from friends, cut off from companions; cunning words and hidden slander. White is overturned and jade defiled; Yan Shu weeps in grief.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake without water: friends are abandoned, companions severed. Clever words and hidden slander separate the closest bonds. White is covered over and jade is stained; Yan Shuzi weeps in anguish. Yan Shuzi was a man of legendary moral purity from the state of Lu. According to tradition, when a neighbor woman sought shelter in his house during a storm, he held a candle through the night to prevent any suspicion of impropriety. Despite his scrupulous conduct, he was slandered, his reputation 'stained.' From Oppression to Decrease, the mountain stands above the lake, draining it. Slander decreases what was whole: friendships are stripped away, purity is soiled, and the innocent suffer the loss of what they most carefully guarded.
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