困 → 艮
Hexagram 47: Oppression → Hexagram 52: Keeping Still Mountain
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
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.
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
塗行破車，醜女无媒。莫適為耦，孤困獨居。
Traveling through mud, the cart breaks down; the homely woman has no matchmaker. None is found to make a pair; alone and stranded, she dwells in solitude.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake without water: traveling on a muddy road, the cart breaks down. An ugly woman has no matchmaker. No one will pair with her; she dwells alone in solitary distress. The verse layers two images of failed connection: a broken vehicle that cannot reach its destination, and an unmarried woman whom no go-between will represent. Both are stranded by a failure of mediation, the cart by the road's condition, the woman by social convention. From Oppression to Keeping Still, doubled mountains stand motionless, and the gentleman thinks without straying beyond his position. The stillness here is enforced rather than chosen: the cart cannot move, the woman cannot marry, and all one can do is sit with the situation. Keeping Still at least offers dignity in immobility.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store