Yarrow 综卦 source note · 2026-07-17

Jian and Jie: What a Zong Gua Inverse Pair Shows

Compare Hexagram 39 Jian (Obstruction) and Hexagram 40 Jie (Deliverance) as a zong gua inverse pair: reversed line order changes viewing direction without forecasting a transition.

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39 · Jian · Obstruction

Obstruction: the southwest is favorable, the northeast unfavorable. It furthers one to see the great man. Perseverance brings good fortune. The Commentary says: Obstruction means difficulty; danger lies ahead. To see danger and know how to halt — this is wisdom indeed. "The southwest is favorable" — going thither, one attains the middle way.

Through hardship and adversity, jade is brought to completion. The Chinese nation has always possessed the spirit of being strengthened by manifold tribulations.

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40 · Jie · Deliverance

Deliverance. The southwest is favorable. If there be no further need to go forth, return brings good fortune. If there yet remains somewhere to go, then early action brings good fortune. The Image says: Deliverance. Amid peril there is movement; through movement one escapes from peril — this is Deliverance.

To resolve through movement, and through movement to bring resolution—this is the true meaning of the Jie hexagram. As for the hexagram's image, in the Jie hexagram, 358.

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What the 综卦 relation actually says

The local structured corpus records Hexagram 39's 综卦 (zong gua, inverse) as Hexagram 40, and Hexagram 40's inverse as Hexagram 39. In the corpus's stored six-line sequence, 010001 becomes 100010 when the order is reversed. Turning the figure end for end changes line positions while preserving each line's yin or yang polarity.

Reverse, compare, then test

Draw 010001 and 100010 in two columns, reverse the first sequence, and verify the match. Then copy one concrete phrase from the reference layer for Jian and one from Jie; name one observable condition supporting each lens, choose one reversible check, and write what evidence would make you review the choice.

Common misread to avoid

A zong gua pair is not a before-and-after promise. Jian does not automatically become Jie; reversed structure neither ranks the two figures nor says which one must follow.

Source boundary

The reference layers and the zong-gua relationship come from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi corpus. The English wording is an editorial explanation of that stored relation. This note is not a fresh cast, a forecast, or a claim that one hexagram must turn into the other.