The first sprout — the birth-pangs of a new venture amid chaos.
Beginnings are hard, and obstacles are natural rather than omens of failure. Do not push blindly; gather help and bring order before advancing. Form emerges out of the initial confusion.
beginningsstruggleperseveranceorganization
Difficulty at the Beginning places Water (abysmal, dangerous) above Thunder (arousing, moving). The interplay of these two trigrams gives the hexagram its character.
The Classical Textoriginal Chinese
The Judgment · 卦辞
元亨，利贞。勿用有攸往，利建侯。
The Image · 大象
云雷，屯；君子以经纶。
The Six Lines · 爻辞
- 初九磐桓，利居贞，利建侯。象曰：虽磐桓，志行正也。以贵下贱，大得民也。
- 六二屯如邅如，乘马班如。匪寇婚媾，女子贞不字，十年乃字。象曰：六二之难，乘刚也。十年乃字，反常也。
- 六三即鹿无虞，惟入于林中，君子几不如舍，往吝。象曰：即鹿无虞，以从禽也。君子舍之，往吝穷也。
- 六四乘马班如，求婚媾，往吉，无不利。象曰：求而往，明也。
- 九五屯其膏，小贞吉，大贞凶。象曰：屯其膏，施未光也。
- 上六乘马班如，泣血涟如。象曰：泣血涟如，何可长也。
The judgment, image and line texts above are quoted from the original Zhou Yi. A modern Chinese translation of the full classic is available on the original-text page.