井 → 夬
Hexagram 48: The Well → Hexagram 43: Breakthrough
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 4).
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 4
六四 井甃无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: The well is being lined. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
脫卵免乳，長大成就。君子萬年，動有利得。
Freed from the egg, weaned from the breast; grown tall to full achievement. The gentleman enjoys ten thousand years; every venture brings gain.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water drawn up through wood, the well sustains life from its earliest emergence. Hatching from the egg, weaned from the breast, the young one grows to full maturity. The gentleman prospers for ten thousand years, and every move brings gain. The verse traces the complete arc of successful nurture: from the fragility of the egg through childhood to flourishing adulthood. The well's patient provision across an entire lifespan culminates in lasting prosperity. From The Well to Breakthrough, the lake rises above heaven in decisive overflow. What the well slowly accumulated now crests and spills over: the gentleman whose growth was patiently nurtured reaches the moment of decisive action, breaking through all remaining obstacles with the momentum of a completed cultivation.
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