井 → 歸妹
Hexagram 48: The Well → Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 5).
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 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 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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
穿鑿道路，為君除舍。開闢福門，喜在我鄰。
Boring through rock, carving a road; clearing the lord's dwelling place. The gate of good fortune is thrown open; joy arrives among our neighbors.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water drawn up through wood, the well provides infrastructure for the community. Carving roads and clearing paths, preparing lodging for the lord, opening the gate of fortune so that joy reaches our neighbors. The verse describes the construction of public works — roads built, guest quarters prepared, and prosperity shared with the surrounding community. The well's function as communal infrastructure expands here into the full apparatus of civilized hospitality. From The Well to the Marrying Maiden, thunder above the lake formalizes a bond. The well's infrastructure, prepared with care, mirrors Guimei's ritual of transition: roads cleared and doors opened for the arrival of what is destined, transforming preparation into fulfillment.
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