訟 → 困
Hexagram 6: Conflict → Hexagram 47: Oppression
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 6).
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
絆跳不遠，心與言反。尼父望家，萏菡未華。
Hobbled, unable to leap far; the heart contradicts the words. Master Ni gazes homeward; the lotus bud has not yet bloomed.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and water oppose, and a tethered horse cannot leap far — the heart says one thing, the mouth another. Confucius gazes toward home, but the lotus buds have not yet bloomed. The 'tethered horse' captures Conflict's essence: bound by circumstance, unable to act on desire. Father Ni's homeward gaze recalls his years of wandering between states, never finding a ruler willing to implement his Way. The unblossomed lotus is promise unfulfilled. From Conflict to Oppression, the lake drains its water — a well without sustenance. Kun is exhaustion and constraint, yet its counsel is 'to fulfill one's fate and realize one's will.' The sage perseveres even when the lotus refuses to open.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store