Oppression

臀困于株木，入于幽谷，三歲不覿。

The buttocks are pressed against a tree stump. One enters a dark valley and sees no one for three years.

A tree stump and a dark valley make isolation bodily and prolonged at Line 1. Changing it replaces lower Water with Lake, forming Hexagram 58. Repeated Lake offers a contrasting image of exchange, while the present line’s isolation remains part of the reading.

困于酒食，朱紱方來，利用享祀。征凶，无咎。

Pressed amid wine and food. Red ceremonial knee covers are arriving. Making a sacrificial offering is beneficial. Setting out brings misfortune, yet there is no fault.

Food and wine do not remove the pressure in Line 2. The passage favors a sincere offering but marks advance as misfortune. Its change produces Hexagram 45, Earth below Lake; that figure’s gathering and ritual language offers a contrast with constraint.

困于石，據于蒺藜，入于其宮，不見其妻，凶。

Pressed against stone and leaning on thorns. Entering the house, one does not see the wife. Misfortune.

Rock, thorns, and an absent spouse leave Line 3 without a welcoming support. Its change replaces lower Water with Wind, forming Hexagram 28. That figure’s overloaded ridgepole offers another image of inadequate support.

來徐徐，困于金車，吝，有終。

Coming slowly, obstructed by a metal carriage. Cause for regret, yet there is a successful conclusion.

The approach in Line 4 is delayed by a metal carriage, yet the passage allows a successful conclusion. Changing the line makes Water above Water, Hexagram 29. The comparison places delayed assistance beside repeated danger.

劓刖，困于赤紱，乃徐有說，利用祭祀。

The nose and feet are cut off; red knee covers bring constraint. Relief comes slowly. Making sacrificial offerings is beneficial.

Mutilation and ceremonial insignia coexist in Line 5; relief is slow, and sacrificial sincerity remains relevant. Changing it makes Thunder above Water, Hexagram 40. Release offers a comparison with the slow relief described here.

困于葛藟，于臲卼，曰動悔。有悔，征吉。

Pressed by creeping vines on an unsteady height. It is said that movement brings regret. Regret is present; setting out is favorable.

At Line 6, vines and unstable ground represent the last degree of constraint. The line distinguishes fearing regret from recognizing grounds for it, after which advance is favorable. Its change makes Heaven above Water, Hexagram 6, setting this entanglement beside a different image of contention.