井 → 臨
Hexagram 48: The Well → Hexagram 19: Approach
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5).
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 5
九五 井冽。寒泉食。
Nine in the fifth place means: In the well there is a clear, cold spring From which one can drink.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
順風吹火，牽騎驥尾。易為功力，因權受福。
Blowing fire with a following wind; grasping the tail of a swift steed. Easy the effort and easy the gain; by seizing the advantage, one receives good fortune.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water drawn up through wood, the well's labor is steady and methodical — and here the verse celebrates effortless leverage. Blowing fire downwind, grasping a swift horse by the tail: effort follows the grain of circumstance, and through strategic positioning one reaps blessings. The two images are classic Chinese proverbs for working with momentum rather than against it. From The Well to Approach, the lake rises beneath the earth, and the great draws near with expanding influence. The well's patient infrastructure, combined with Lin's advancing proximity, embodies the principle that positioning oneself at the right junction multiplies force without exhausting it.
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