井 → 履
Hexagram 48: The Well → Hexagram 10: Treading
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 6).
Line 1
初六 井泥不食。舊井无禽。
Six at the beginning means: One does not drink the mud of the well. No animals come to an old well.
Line 3
九三 井渫不食。為我心惻。可用汲。王明。並受其福。
Nine in the third place means: The well is cleaned, but no one drinks from it. This is my heart's sorrow, For one might draw from it. If the king were clear-minded, Good fortune might be enjoyed in common.
Line 4
六四 井甃无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: The well is being lined. No blame.
Line 6
上六 井收勿幕。有孚元吉。
Six at the top means: One draws from the well Without hindrance. It is dependable. Supreme good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
百足俱行，相輔為強。三聖翼事，王室寵光。
Many hands draw water, rope-marks carved into stone. The well is deep and inexhaustible, sharing its moisture with four neighbors.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water drawn up through wood, the well's strength lies in cooperation. The original verse reads: 'A hundred feet march together, mutual support makes them strong. Three sages assist the enterprise, and the royal house is graced with splendor.' The 'hundred feet' evokes the centipede proverb — many legs moving as one. The 'three sages' likely refers to the Duke of Zhou, Taigong, and Duke of Shao, who together stabilized the early Zhou dynasty. From The Well to Treading, one walks carefully beneath heaven's authority. The well's communal structure resonates with Li's insistence on proper hierarchy: many working in concert, each treading their appointed path, produces strength no individual can achieve alone.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store