困 → 萃
Hexagram 47: Oppression → Hexagram 45: Gathering Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 2).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
被髮獸心，難與比鄰。來如飄風，去似絕絃，為狼所殘。
Hair unbound and beast of heart, hard to keep as a neighbor. Coming like a whirlwind, departing like a severed string; devoured by the wolf.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake without water: hair disheveled and heart of a beast, impossible to live beside as a neighbor. It arrives like a whirlwind, departs like a snapped bowstring, and is torn apart by wolves. The verse describes a barbarian or bandit figure, someone operating outside civilization's norms. The wild hair and bestial disposition mark the outsider; the whirlwind arrival and snapped-string departure capture terrifying speed and unpredictability. The wolves that destroy him suggest that the lawless are ultimately consumed by a force even more savage. From Oppression to Gathering, the lake pools upon the earth, and the gentleman prepares weapons and guards against the unexpected. The verse is the reason such readiness matters: when predators roam, the gathered community must be armed and vigilant.
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