渙 → 蹇
Hexagram 59: Dispersion → Hexagram 39: Obstruction
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 6).
Line 2
九二 渙奔其机。悔亡。
Nine in the second place means: At the dissolution He hurries to that which supports him. Remorse disappears.
Line 3
六三 渙其躬。无悔。
Six in the third place means: He dissolves his self. No remorse.
Line 6
上九 渙其血。去逖出。无咎。
Nine at the top means: He dissolves his blood. Departing, keeping at a distance, going out, Is without blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
羊腸九縈，相推稍前。止須王孫，乃能上天。
Wading through knee-deep water, mud swallows the cart tracks. The ox pants, the driver sweats — less than a li covered. But finally reaching the far bank, muscles and bones at last relax.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind over water, yet here the original verse describes a winding mountain path: 'A sheep-gut trail spiraling nine turns, each pushing the next forward; wait for the prince, and only then ascend to heaven.' The nine turns demand collaborative effort — no one climbs alone. The path is agonizing but not impassable; what matters is having the right companion and refusing to quit. Water pooling on the mountain creates the image of Obstruction — difficulty that cannot be charged through but must be reflected upon. From Dispersion to Obstruction, the wind that scattered the travelers now forces each to confront their own limits on the narrow trail. Obstruction's remedy is self-cultivation, not brute persistence: the nine spirals are climbed by those who turn inward with each turn.
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