困 → 歸妹
Hexagram 47: Oppression → Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 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 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
伯圭東行，與利相逢。出既遭昧，孰不相知？憂不成凶。
Lord Bo travels east bearing jade, and meets with profit on the road. Setting out only to encounter murk, who then can know the other? Worry does not ripen into disaster.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake without water: a nobleman carrying a jade tablet journeys east and encounters good fortune on the road. Though he meets with darkness and confusion at first, who can remain unknown forever? Worry does not ripen into disaster. The 'bo gui' (eldest son's jade) is a symbol of legitimate authority and rank; traveling east with it suggests embarking on a mission to claim or demonstrate one's rightful position. The initial obscurity gives way to recognition. From Oppression to the Marrying Maiden, thunder rides above the lake, and the gentleman understands endings by examining what is worn out. The maiden's journey to her new home mirrors the nobleman's eastward march: both venture into uncertain territory, both risk obscurity, yet both find that the transition, though fraught, does not end in calamity.
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