困 → 升
Hexagram 47: Oppression → Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5).
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.
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
天覆地載，日月運照。陰陽允作，方內四富。
Heaven covers, earth supports; sun and moon revolve and shine. Yin and yang faithfully work together; the four quarters are richly blessed.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake without water, yet heaven covers and earth sustains, sun and moon orbit in their courses. Yin and yang operate faithfully, and within the four quarters all is prosperous. The verse is a cosmological hymn: the universe functions as designed, celestial bodies follow their paths, the dual forces harmonize, and the result is universal abundance. No historical allusion; this is pure cosmic felicity. From Oppression to Pushing Upward, wood grows within the earth, and the gentleman accumulates small steps into great heights. The drained lake gives way to patient upward growth. When heaven and earth function properly, when the cosmic order is trusted, the smallest seedling pushed upward through the soil becomes a towering tree. Oppression was temporary; the cosmic pattern is permanent.
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