艮 → 井
Hexagram 52: Keeping Still Mountain → Hexagram 48: The Well
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 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 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
冬采微蘭，地凍堅難。利走室北，暮无所得。
Gathering orchids in winter; the ground is frozen and unyielding. Better to hasten to the north chamber; by evening, nothing is gained.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Twin mountains stand still in the dead of winter as one gathers orchids from frozen ground — the earth is locked solid, yielding nothing. Hurrying north to the back of the house brings no reward by nightfall. The verse is seasonal futility: the wrong task at the wrong time in the wrong place. Orchids bloom in warmth; seeking them in winter is an act of beautiful desperation. From Keeping Still to the Well, mountain yields to water above wind — the image of the well that nourishes the community. The Well serves all who draw from it, but its water must be reached. The verse's frozen ground is the well sealed by ice: the resource exists but the season forbids access. Patience, not effort, is the remedy.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store