歸妹 → 井
Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden → Hexagram 48: The Well
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 5).
Line 1
初九 歸妹以娣。跛能履。征吉。
Nine at the beginning means: The marrying maiden as a concubine. A lame man who is able to tread. Undertakings bring good fortune.
Line 3
六三 歸妹以須。反歸以娣。
Six in the third place means: The marrying maiden as a slave. She marries as a concubine.
Line 4
九四 歸妹愆期。遲歸有時。
Nine in the fourth place means: The marrying maiden draws out the allotted time. A late marriage comes in due course.
Line 5
六五 帝乙歸妹。其君之袂。不如其娣之袂良。月幾望吉。
Six in the fifth place means: The sovereign I gave his daughter in marriage. The embroidered garments of the princess Were not as gorgeous As those of the serving maid. The moon that is nearly full Brings good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
靈龜陸處，一旦失所。伊子復耕，桀亂无輔。
The flood dragon stranded on the sandbar; the phoenix lands on earth — mocked by chickens and dogs. Yesterday, a gold-sealed guest in the high hall; today, gathering firewood in the wilderness.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder over lake meets water over wind: the maiden's fragile position encounters the Well's inexhaustible depth. The original verse reads: 'The sacred turtle stranded on land loses its home in a single day. Yi Yin returns to the plow; Jie's chaos leaves him without support.' This is the same verse as 54-23, reused here for a different transformation. The turtle out of water is talent removed from its element; Yi Yin's return to farming is the sage biding his time. From the Marrying Maiden to the Well, the transformation reveals the Well's fundamental nature: water drawn up through wood, an inexhaustible resource that nourishes without being depleted. Even when the turtle is stranded and the minister exiled, the well of inner virtue remains available, waiting to be drawn upon when conditions change.
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