井 → 萃
Hexagram 48: The Well → Hexagram 45: Gathering Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
百柱載梁，千歲不僵。大願輔福，文武以昌。
A hundred pillars bear the beam; for a thousand years it shall not fall. Great aspirations buttress good fortune; through culture and valor, all prospers.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water drawn up through wood, the well supports the structure above it — and here that structure achieves monumental scale. A hundred pillars bear the roof beam, standing firm for a thousand years. Great aspirations are blessed with fortune, and through both civil and martial virtue the realm prospers. The architectural image of pillars supporting a vast hall is a political metaphor: many capable ministers upholding the state. From The Well to Gathering, the lake pools upon the earth where people naturally congregate. The well's sustaining force, multiplied through a hundred supporting columns, creates the gathering place itself — where civil elegance and military readiness combine under one enduring roof.
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