訟 → 蹇
Hexagram 6: Conflict → Hexagram 39: Obstruction
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 6).
Line 2
九二 不克訟。歸而逋其邑。人三百戶。无眚。
Nine in the second place means: One cannot engage in conflict; One returns home, gives way. The people of his town, Three hundred households, Remain free of guilt.
Line 3
六三 食舊德。貞。厲終吉。或從王事。无成。
Six in the third place means: To nourish oneself on ancient virtue induces perseverance. Danger. In the end, good fortune comes. If by chance you are in the service of a king, Seek not works.
Line 4
九四 不克訟。復即命。渝安貞。吉。
Nine in the fourth place means: One cannot engage in conflict. One turns back and submits to fate, Changes one's attitude, And finds peace in perseverance. Good fortune.
Line 6
上九 或錫之鞶帶。終朝三褫之。
Nine at the top means: Even if by chance a leather belt is bestowed on one, By the end of a morning It will have been snatched away three times.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
兩羝三牂，俱之代鄉。留連多難，損其食糧。
Two rams and three ewes, all heading to Dai country. Lingering through many hardships; losing their provisions.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and water oppose, and a flock — two rams and three ewes — is driven toward the border region of Dai. The journey is beset with delays and hardships, and the provisions dwindle. Dai was a frontier state in the far north, associated with harsh terrain and military exposure. From Conflict to Obstruction, water stands atop the mountain, blocking the path forward. Jian's image is difficulty that demands self-reflection rather than brute force. The flock's suffering on the northern road embodies this: the journey is ill-conceived, the supplies inadequate, and the obstacles compounding. Obstruction's counsel — turn back and examine oneself — is precisely what the herdsman has failed to do.
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