小畜 → 井
Hexagram 9: Small Taming → Hexagram 48: The Well
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 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 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
憂患解除，喜至慶來；坐立懽忻，與樂為鄰。
Worry and trouble are dissolved; joy arrives and celebration comes. Sitting or standing, filled with delight; dwelling as a neighbor of happiness.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind above heaven settles into water drawn upward through wood — the Well's inexhaustible nourishment. Worry and hardship dissolve; joy and celebration arrive. Sitting and standing alike overflow with delight; happiness becomes one's nearest neighbor. From Small Taming to the Well, the transformation moves from surface refinement to deep sustenance. Jing's image — wood above water — is the well-sweep drawing water from below to serve the community above. The verse captures the moment when the well yields: anxiety drains away and contentment fills the space it vacated. The Well never moves, never runs dry, and serves all who approach without discrimination. This is joy not as excitement but as the quiet reliability of being nourished at the source.
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