旅 → 困
Hexagram 56: The Wanderer → Hexagram 47: Oppression
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 旅瑣瑣。斯其所取災。
Six at the beginning means: If the wanderer busies himself with trivial things, He draws down misfortune upon himself.
Line 2
六二 旅即次。懷其資。得童僕貞。
Six in the second place means: The wanderer comes to an inn. He has his property with him. He wins the steadfastness of a young servant.
Line 3
九三 旅焚其次。喪其童僕。貞厲。
Nine in the third place means: The wanderer's inn burns down. He loses the steadfastness of his young servant. Danger.
Line 4
九四 旅于處。得其資斧。我心不快。
Nine in the fourth place means: The wanderer rests in a shelter. He obtains his property and an ax. My heart is not glad.
Line 5
六五 射雉。一矢亡。終以譽命。
Six in the fifth place means: He shoots a pheasant. It drops with the first arrow. In the end this brings both praise and office.
Line 6
上九 鳥焚其巢。旅人先笑後號咷。喪牛于易。凶。
Nine at the top means: The bird's nest burns up. The wanderer laughs at first, Then must needs lament and weep. Through carelessness he loses his cow. Misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
鴉噪庭中，以戒災凶。重門擊柝，備憂暴客。
Crows caw in the courtyard, a warning of coming disaster. The layered gates are struck with clappers, guarding against sudden intruders.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire on the mountain, and crows clamor in the courtyard — a warning of impending disaster. The verse invokes the ancient precaution: bar the double gates, strike the watchman's clapper, prepare against sudden intruders. The crow's raucous cry in the home yard was understood as an omen demanding vigilance. From The Wanderer to Oppression, the lake has drained and only water remains trapped below — a cistern without outlet. The verse's defensive posture mirrors Oppression's constrained condition: one cannot flee, cannot expand, can only bolt the door and wait. The wanderer under siege discovers that Oppression is not passive suffering but active watchfulness, the discipline of staying alert when escape is impossible.
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