艮 → 臨
Hexagram 52: Keeping Still Mountain → Hexagram 19: Approach
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 6).
Line 1
初六 艮其趾。无咎。利永貞。
Six at the beginning means: Keeping his toes still. No blame. Continued perseverance furthers.
Line 2
六二 艮其腓。不拯其隨。其心不快。
Six in the second place means: Keeping his calves still. He cannot rescue him whom he follows. His heart is not glad.
Line 3
九三 艮其限。列其夤。厲熏心。
Nine in the third place means: Keeping his hips still. Making his sacrum stiff. Dangerous. The heart suffocates.
Line 6
上九 敦艮吉。
Nine at the top means: Noblehearted keeping still. Good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
逐狐東山，水遏我前。深不可涉，失利後便。
Fishing, the line snaps — the catch sinks into the green pool. The water's depth is unfathomable; the bare hook still dangles.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Twin mountains stand still. The original verse reads: chasing a fox on the eastern mountain, water blocks the way ahead. The depth is impassable; one loses advantage and falls behind. The fox — cunning and elusive — leads the hunter to a barrier of deep water, and the pursuit ends in frustration. From Keeping Still to Approach, doubled mountain yields to earth above the lake, where authority draws near from above. Yet the verse denies approach: the water is too deep, the quarry escapes, and the pursuer is left worse off than before. The mountain's stillness should have counseled patience, but the hunter moved too eagerly. Approach works only when the ground is prepared; rushing forward into uncharted depths forfeits the initiative.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store