井 → 賁
Hexagram 48: The Well → Hexagram 22: Grace
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5, 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 2
九二 井谷射鮒。甕敝漏。
Nine in the second place means: At the wellhole one shoots fishes. The jug is broken and leaks.
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.
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
神鳥五色，鳳凰為主。集於王谷，使君得所。
Divine birds of five colors; the phoenix reigns as their lord. They gather in the King's Valley; the ruler finds his rightful place.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water drawn up through wood, the well brings hidden treasure to the surface. Divine birds of five colors gather, with the phoenix as their sovereign, alighting in the Valley of the King and granting the lord his proper place. The phoenix appears only under a sage ruler's reign; its five colors represent the harmony of the five elements. From The Well to Grace, fire glows beneath the mountain, illuminating the inner pattern of things. The well draws up what lies hidden; Grace adorns what has been revealed. The phoenix's resplendent plumage is the aesthetic fulfillment of the well's structural work — raw nourishment refined into beauty, substance given its fitting form.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store