小畜 → 坎
Hexagram 9: Small Taming → Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 6).
Line 1
初九 復自道。何其咎。吉。
Nine at the beginning means: Return to the way. How could there be blame in this? Good fortune.
Line 3
九三 輿說輻。夫妻反目。
Nine in the third place means: The spokes burst out of the wagon wheels. Man and wife roll their eyes.
Line 6
上九 既雨既處。尚德載。婦貞厲。月幾望。君子征凶。
Nine at the top means: The rain comes, there is rest. This is due to the lasting effect of character. Perseverance brings the woman into danger. The moon is nearly full. If the superior man persists, Misfortune comes.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
亂茅縮酒，靈巫拜禱；神怒不許，瘁愁憂苦。
Tangled rushes strain the wine; the spirit-medium bows in prayer. The spirits rage and refuse; grief and bitter sorrow remain.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind above heaven plunges into doubled water — the Abysmal repeated, peril upon peril. Tangled reeds are used to strain the sacrificial wine; the spirit-medium bows and prays. Yet the spirits are angered and refuse to accept the offering. Exhaustion, grief, and worry consume the supplicant. From Small Taming to the Abysmal, gentle refinement descends into the abyss where sincerity alone can navigate. The failed ritual is devastating: even the correct form — reed-strained wine, proper invocations — cannot compel divine assent. Kan demands steadfast inner truth, not ritual mechanics. When the heart's sincerity falls short, no amount of ceremony bridges the gulf between human need and heaven's silence.
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