井 → 困

Commentary

Water drawn up through wood, the well depends on discernment — but a deaf ox can distinguish neither sound nor flavor. Entrusted with the sacrificial cauldron and chopping block, it brings only chaos and collapse. The 'ox with deaf ears' is a figure of comic futility: placing an animal that cannot hear or taste in charge of preparing the ritual feast. The mismatch between authority and competence produces not merely failure but active destruction. From The Well to Oppression, the lake has no water — resources exist but cannot be accessed. The well's bounty, administered by the incompetent, dries up: Kun's exhaustion is not caused by scarcity but by the wrong steward at the wellhead.