兌 → 屯
Hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake → Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 2, 4).
Line 2
九二 孚兌吉。悔亡。
Nine in the second place means: Sincere joyousness. Good fortune. Remorse disappears.
Line 4
九四 商兌未寧。介疾有喜。
Nine in the fourth place means: Joyousness that is weighed is not at peace. After ridding himself of mistakes a man has joy.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
夾河為婚，期至无船。搖心失望，不見所歡。
A marriage arranged across the river, but when the day arrives no boat appears. The anxious heart loses hope; the beloved is nowhere to be seen.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Paired lakes shimmer with promise, yet a river divides the lovers. A marriage is arranged across the water, but when the appointed day arrives there is no boat. The heart wavers in despair; the beloved never appears. Thunder stirs beneath the water — clouds and rain gather but cannot yet deliver. From The Joyous to Difficulty at the Beginning, delight curdles into frustrated longing. The verse captures the precise anguish of hexagram 3: all the elements for union exist, yet the moment refuses to coalesce. The bride-to-be waits on one bank, the groom on the other, and between them a river with no crossing.
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