需 → 蹇
Hexagram 5: Waiting → Hexagram 39: Obstruction
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 2).
Line 1
初九 需于郊。利用恆。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Waiting in the meadow. It furthers one to abide in what endures. No blame.
Line 2
九二 需于沙。小有言。終吉。
Nine in the second place means: Waiting on the sand. There is some gossip. The end brings good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
比目附翼，歡樂相得。行止集周，終不離忒。
Paired eyes and joined wings; joyfully found together. Going and staying in complete accord; they never part or err.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds above heaven meet water upon the mountain — Obstruction's terrain of difficulty. Yet the verse sings of union: paired-eye fish and shared-wing birds, joyfully suited to each other. They move and rest in perfect accord, never once parting or faltering. The 'paired-eye fish' (比目魚) can only swim in pairs, each having one eye; the 'shared-wing birds' (比翼鳥) can only fly together, each having one wing. These mythological creatures embody inseparable love and mutual dependence. From Waiting to Obstruction, the paradox is that the hardest terrain produces the deepest bonds: water on the mountain cannot flow freely, yet this very constraint makes companions cling together all the more closely, finding joy precisely where difficulty demands partnership.
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