Exact classical source
上天下泽，履。君子以辨上下，定民志。
Yarrow editorial translation. Heaven above and lake below: Treading. Thus the noble person distinguishes levels and settles people's understanding.
Yarrow / Source Notes / 2026-07-17
Yarrow Image-to-Action note · 2026-07-17
Publish the Decision Permission Ladder
Read Hexagram 10 Lu through clearly distinguished levels, then show who decides, who is consulted, and where an appeal goes.
䷉
Hexagram 10 · Lu · Treading
This page studies a supplied Xiang image. It does not claim this hexagram was cast for the modern scene.
Textual correction
The bundled Yang Tiancai and Zhang Shanwen OCR prints 辩 in this line; Yarrow uses the received reading 辨 after checking the Zhouyi Shangshi Xue witness and discloses the variant here.
Primary OCR witness. 上天下泽，履。君子以辩上下，定民志。
Corrected public reading. 上天下泽，履。君子以辨上下，定民志。
Source image
Heaven remains above and the lake below, making distinct levels visible before people move through them.
Concrete tension
One decision circles through meetings because nobody can identify the authority to decide, the people to consult, or the route for appeal.
Visible modern action
For one active decision, publish a permission ladder with the decision owner, consulted roles, appeal route, and response time. Send one real request through every rung, record where it stops, and revise the ladder until each handoff names the next responsible person.
Why this action comes from this source
The source uses visible levels to settle people's orientation. A permission ladder turns those levels into an inspectable decision path; the decision owner fixes authority, consulted roles protect participation, and the appeal route prevents rank from becoming a closed end.
Reflection question
Which rung still leaves a real request without a responsible next person?
Audience value
Informative and caring: people gain a usable authority map without having to guess, flatter, or escalate blindly.
Source boundary
The Chinese quotation is checked against Yarrow's bundled Yang Tiancai and Zhang Shanwen source text. Where that OCR witness substitutes a character, the page discloses the raw reading and checks the correction against a second classical witness. The English translation, objects, tension, and action are modern Yarrow editorial work. This is not a fresh cast, prediction, or promised outcome.