井 → 无妄
Hexagram 48: The Well → Hexagram 25: Innocence
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 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 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
少康興起，誅澆復祖。微滅復明，大禹享祀。
Shaokang arose; he punished Jiao and restored his ancestor's line. What was dimmed was made bright again; the sacrifices to Great Yu were renewed.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water drawn up through wood, the well preserves what survives through dark times. Shao Kang rose from exile, executed the usurper Jiao, and restored his ancestor's dynasty. What had been extinguished flickered back to life, and the great Yu's sacrificial rites were renewed. Shao Kang, sixth king of the Xia dynasty, fled after his father was killed by the usurper Han Zhuo and his agent Jiao. With a small fief and loyal followers, he rebuilt his forces and reclaimed the Xia throne — the archetypal restoration. From The Well to Innocence, thunder moves beneath heaven in natural alignment. The well's enduring source sustains the exile until heaven's proper order reasserts itself without contrivance.
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