困 → 震
Hexagram 47: Oppression → Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5).
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 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
四足俱走，駑疲在後。戰既不勝，敗於東野。
All four legs race together, the worn-out nag falls behind. The battle already lost, they are routed on the eastern field.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake without water: all four legs run together, but the worn-out nag lags behind. The battle ends in defeat, routed on the eastern plain. The image pairs a race with a rout: in any contest of speed, the exhausted horse falls to the rear, and falling behind in war means annihilation. The 'eastern field' as a place of defeat echoes several Spring and Autumn battles where overextended forces collapsed far from home. From Oppression to the Arousing, doubled thunder should electrify and galvanize. But the verse inverts this potential: the thunder that should shock the weary horse into motion only reveals its total depletion. The slow cannot be startled into speed; the exhausted cannot be frightened into strength. Arousal without reserves produces only rout.
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