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.
既濟：亨小。利貞。初吉終亂。
Ji Ji: Success in small matters. A favorable determination. Auspicious at the beginning; disorder at the end.
初九：曳其輪，濡其尾，无咎。
Nine at the beginning: Dragging the wheel; wetting the tail. No blame.
六二：婦喪其茀，勿逐，七日得。
Six in the second place: The woman loses her carriage screen. Do not pursue it; in seven days it is recovered.
九三：高宗伐鬼方，三年克之，小人勿用。
Nine in the third place: Gaozong attacks the Guifang and defeats them after three years. Do not employ petty men.
六四：繻有衣袽，終日戒。
Six in the fourth place: Fine cloth turns to rags. Be vigilant all day.
九五：東鄰殺牛，不如西鄰之禴祭，實受其福。
Nine in the fifth place: The eastern neighbor slaughters an ox; this does not equal the western neighbor's modest yue offering, which truly receives the blessing.
上六：濡其首，厲。
Six at the top: Wetting the head. Danger.
02 / A POSSIBLE CONTEXT
What might the question have been?
A crossing, war, or marriage seems complete. Can trouble still arise in its final stages?
A possible setting
A wheel is dragged and a tail becomes wet. A woman loses a carriage screen, and a campaign against the Guifang lasts years. Completion has not removed all exposure.
How the words respond
The judgment explicitly contrasts a favorable beginning with disorder at the end. Later lines advise waiting for a lost object, maintaining vigilance, and distinguishing an effective modest offering from a larger one. The final line submerges the head.
A completed passage still has an aftermath. The different scenes test what remains insecure.
This scenario adapts the Chinese edition's historical reading. It is a possible reconstruction, not an established single event or the only interpretation.