Hexagram 23 剝 changing to hexagram 47 困
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 2, 4, 5, 6.
What to read
Four changing lines: read the two unchanged lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 47 困, line 1
臀困于株木，入于幽谷，三歲不覿。
The first line, divided, shows its subject with bare buttocks straitened under the stump of a tree. He enters a dark valley, and for three years has no prospect (of deliverance).
Hexagram 47 困, line 3
困于石，據于蒺蔾，入于其宮，不見其妻，凶。
The third line, divided, shows its subject straitened before a (frowning) rock. He lays hold of thorns. He enters his palace, and does not see his wife. There will be evil.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 23 剝 — judgment
不利。有攸往。
Po indicates that (in the state which it symbolises) it will not be advantageous to make a movement in any direction whatever.
Hexagram 47 困 — judgment
亨，貞大人吉，无咎，有言不信。
In (the condition denoted by) Khwăn there may (yet be) progress and success. For the firm and correct, the (really) great man, there will be good fortune. He will fall into no error. If he make speeches, his words cannot be made good.
The changing lines of hexagram 23
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 剝牀以辨，蔑貞凶。 | The second line, divided, shows one overthrowing the couch by injuring its frame. (The injury will go on to) the destruction of (all) firm correctness, and there will be evil. |
| 4 | 剝牀以膚，凶。 | The fourth line, divided, shows its subject having overthrown the couch, and (going to injure) the skin (of him who lies on it). There will be evil. |
| 5 | 貫魚，以宮人寵，无不利。 | The fifth line, divided, shows (its subject leading on the others like) a string of fishes, and (obtaining for them) the favour that lights on the inmates of the palace. There will be advantage in every way. |
| 6 | 碩果不食，君子德車，小人剝廬。 | The topmost line, undivided, shows its subject (as) a great fruit which has not been eaten. The superior man finds (the people again) as a chariot carrying him. The small men (by their course) overthrow their own dwellings. |
English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.