01 / THE EARLY TEXT
The words themselves.
An interpretive English translation. Read the translation notes. Six and nine name line types; positions run from bottom to top.
遯：亨。小利貞。
Dun: Success. A determination is favorable in small matters.
初六：遯尾，厲，勿用有攸往。
Six at the beginning: The tail of withdrawal. Danger. Do not set out.
六二：執之用黃牛之革，莫之勝說。
Six in the second place: Bound with yellow oxhide; no one can loosen it.
九三：系遯，有疾厲，畜臣妾吉。
Nine in the third place: Withdrawal entangled. Illness and danger. Keeping male and female servants is auspicious.
九四：好遯君子吉，小人否。
Nine in the fourth place: A willing withdrawal. Auspicious for the noble person; not so for the petty person.
九五：嘉遯，貞吉。
Nine in the fifth place: An excellent withdrawal. The determination is auspicious.
上九：肥遯，无不利。
Nine at the top: An ample withdrawal. Nothing is unfavorable.
02 / A POSSIBLE CONTEXT
What might the question have been?
As hostile forces or dangerous politics close in, when should one withdraw, and what might prevent escape?
A possible setting
Troops or an officeholder prepare to retreat. The rear may be caught, dependents may complicate movement, and personal attachment may consume the remaining opportunity.
How the words respond
The first line warns about the tail end of a retreat. The second depicts an unbreakable binding. The third considers withdrawal burdened by ties and the care of dependents. Later lines describe increasingly favorable forms of departure.
The text distinguishes the timing and encumbrances of withdrawal. It does not simply praise passivity.
This scenario adapts the Chinese edition's historical reading. It is a possible reconstruction, not an established single event or the only interpretation.