艮 → 困
Hexagram 52: Keeping Still Mountain → Hexagram 47: Oppression
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
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 4
六四 艮其身。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: Keeping his trunk still. No blame.
Line 5
六五 艮其輔。言有序。悔亡。
Six in the fifth place means: Keeping his jaws still. The words have order. Remorse disappears.
Line 6
上九 敦艮吉。
Nine at the top means: Noblehearted keeping still. Good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
南行出城，世得天福。王姬歸齊，賴其所欲。
Traveling south, departing the city; the age receives heaven's blessing. The royal princess is married off to Qi, finding what was desired.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Twin mountains stand still, then the journey turns south through the city gate. The world receives heaven's blessing; a Zhou princess goes to Qi in marriage, and both sides obtain what they desire. The 'wang ji' (王姬) is a daughter of the Zhou royal house. Royal marriages to major states like Qi were diplomatic instruments that cemented alliances and conferred legitimacy. From Keeping Still to Oppression, mountain yields to the lake drained of its water — emptiness and constraint. Yet the verse is unexpectedly positive: the princess's departure is not loss but strategic gift. From the mountain's perspective, sending forth something precious is indeed a diminishment, but from the alliance's perspective, it fills the empty lake. Oppression is navigated by giving rather than hoarding.
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