鼎 → 蹇
Hexagram 50: The Cauldron → Hexagram 39: Obstruction
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 5, 6).
Line 2
九二 鼎有實。我仇有疾。不我能即。吉。
Nine in the second place means: There is food in the ting. My comrades are envious, But they cannot harm me. Good fortune.
Line 4
九四 鼎折足。覆公餗。其形渥。凶。
Nine in the fourth place means: The legs of the ting are broken. The prince's meal is spilled And his person is soiled. Misfortune. A man has a difficult and responsible task to which he is not adequate. Moreover, he does not devote himself to it with all his strength but goes about with inferior people; therefore the execution of the work fails. In this way he also incurs personal opprobrium. Confucius says about this line: "Weak character coupled with honored place, meager knowledge with large plans, limited powers with heavy responsibility, will seldom escape disaster. "
Line 5
六五 鼎黃耳金鉉。利貞。
Six in the fifth place means: The ting has yellow handles, golden carrying rings. Perseverance furthers.
Line 6
上九 鼎玉鉉。大吉。无不利。
Nine at the top means: The ting has rings of jade. Great good fortune. Nothing that would not act to further.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
陽春生長，萬物茂壯。垂枝布葉，君子比德。
In the warmth of spring, all things grow; the ten thousand creatures flourish and thrive. Branches droop, leaves spread; the gentleman takes this as his measure of virtue.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire over wind fills the cauldron, yet water pools atop the mountain in Obstruction. Spring's warmth generates growth, and all things flourish in abundance. Branches droop with fruit, leaves spread wide — the gentleman aligns his virtue with this generative power. The verse is pure seasonal celebration: vernal energy at its peak, nature demonstrating its capacity for effortless abundance, and the sage modeling himself on this pattern. Yet the target hexagram is Obstruction — water over mountain, the path blocked. From The Cauldron to Obstruction, the transformation reveals that even spring's fullness must meet resistance. The cauldron nourishes, the trees bloom, but the mountain ahead is steep and the water runs the wrong way. Virtue modeled on nature prepares one to face difficulty, not avoid it.
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