需 → 井
Hexagram 5: Waiting → Hexagram 48: The Well
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 1).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
珪璧琮璋，執贄見王。百里甯戚，應聘齊秦。
Jade disc, jade tube, jade scepter; bearing tribute to see the king. Baili Xi and Ning Qi; answering the summons of Qi and Qin.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Clouds above heaven descend into the well's water drawn upward by wood — nourishment's most essential form. Bearing gui and bi jade scepters, one presents ritual credentials before the king. Baili Xi and Ning Qi answered the call of Qi and Qin — two men of hidden talent elevated from obscurity to the highest offices. Baili Xi was ransomed from slavery for five ram skins to become chief minister of Qin; Ning Qi sang while feeding cattle until Duke Huan of Qi recognized his worth. From Waiting to The Well, nourishment becomes inexhaustible source: the well draws from depths that never run dry. Talent submerged in lowly circumstance, when properly drawn up, serves the state like water serves the people — always available, always renewing.
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