Hexagram 55: Abundance → Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning

Abundance
Thunder / Fire
Difficulty at the Beginning
Water / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5).

Line 3

九三 豐其沛。日中見沬。折其右肱。无咎。

fēngso abundant
are one's
pèiflowing banners
the day
zhōngat mid-
jiànone may see
mèistardust
zhéand also break
one's own
yòuright
gōngupper arm
but no
jiùblame

Nine in the third place means: The underbrush is of such abundance That the small stars can be seen at noon. He breaks his right arm. No blame.

Line 4

九四 豐其蔀。日中見斗。遇其夷主。吉。

fēngso abundant
are one's
woven screens
the day
zhōngat mid-
jiànone may see
dǒuthe bushel constellation
or meet
that
hidden
zhǔmaster
promising

Nine in the fourth place means: The curtain is of such fullness That the polestars can be seen at noon. He meets his ruler, who is of like kind. Good fortune.

Line 5

六五 來章。有慶譽吉。

láicoming
zhāngan
yǒuthere are
qìngreward
and praise
promising

Six in the fifth place means: Lines are coming, Blessing and fame draw near. Good fortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramThunder WaterThe Arousing → The Deep
Lower TrigramFire ThunderThe Clinging → The Arousing

Yilin Verse

東山皋落,叛逆不服。興師征討,恭子敗覆。

At East Mountain the Gaoluo rebel and refuse submission. Raising troops to campaign and punish them, Lord Gong meets with defeat.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Thunder and fire converge in Abundance, but the verse plunges into military disaster. The Dongshan Gaoluo, a barbarian tribe east of Jin, refuse submission. An army is raised to punish them, yet the campaign ends in defeat for Gongzi — likely a prince or general leading the expedition. According to the Zuo Zhuan, Duke Xian of Jin dispatched forces against the Eastern Mountain Gaoluo tribe, and the campaign met with serious reversals. The verse names the pattern plainly: rebellion resists order, force is mustered, and the commander is overthrown. From Abundance to Difficulty at the Beginning, clouds and thunder gather but birth is painful: the bright confidence of Abundance crashes into the tangled chaos of a new situation where every step forward meets obstruction.

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