困 → 革
Hexagram 47: Oppression → Hexagram 49: Revolution
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3).
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 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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
申酉稷射，陰慝萌作。柯葭載牧，泥塗不白。
In the shen and you months, when autumn grains are shot, dark mischief stirs and rises. Stalks and reeds bear their pasture, but the mire will not whiten.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake without water: in the shen and you hours, grain is targeted by arrows. Dark forces stir and sprout. Branches and reeds are loaded for pasture, but the mud stains cannot be washed white. The shen-you hours correspond to late afternoon and the metal phase, traditionally associated with decline and autumn's killing energy. Grain under attack by arrows suggests military requisition or forced levy destroying the harvest. The 'yin tei' (dark wickedness) sprouting implies corruption germinating unseen. Mud that cannot whiten captures indelible stain. From Oppression to Revolution, fire within the lake, the gentleman uses the calendar to clarify the seasons. Revolution demands proper timing, but this verse shows the moment before: the stain that will not come clean, the corruption that has already rooted.
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