鼎 → 井
Hexagram 50: The Cauldron → Hexagram 48: The Well
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 4, 5, 6).
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
擊鼓陷陔，不得相踰。章甫文德，福厭禍涓。
Beating drums, storming the ditch; they cannot surpass one another. The ceremonial cap of Zhangfu brings civil virtue; blessings overflow and misfortune is washed away.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire over wind fills the cauldron; water rises above wind in The Well. Drums pound as troops storm the ramparts, each soldier pressing forward without yielding ground. Then a shift: the Zhangfu ceremonial cap and civil virtue prevail, and blessings overflow while misfortune dwindles. The Zhangfu cap was the formal headgear of Confucian gentlemen — its invocation signals the triumph of ritual propriety over military violence. First the drums of battle, then the cap of culture: the verse traces a passage from war to order. From The Cauldron to The Well, the transformation locates an inexhaustible source. The well's water rises through wood — civilized virtue, like a deep well, nourishes without running dry. The cauldron's fire is fed by an endless spring beneath it.
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