未濟 → 履

Commentary

Fire above water — and here the fire literalizes. A blaze erupts from heaven without warning, burning the neighboring village first, then spreading to one's own household, consuming all possessions. The 'heavenly fire' (天火) in Han thought referred to fire of unknown or cosmic origin — lightning strikes, spontaneous combustion, or arson attributed to fate. From Before Completion to Treading, the fire-over-water transforms into heaven above the lake, the image of treading carefully upon dangerous ground. The verse dramatizes what happens when one fails to tread with caution: the fire that seemed distant crosses the boundary and devours everything. Treading on the tiger's tail demands awareness that danger is never safely contained over there — it is always already approaching.