Trapped by Rock, Leaning on Thorns
Updated 2026-08-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Line three of Hexagram Kun reads: pressed against rock, leaning on thorns. Rock blocks the front and thorns make the rear unlivable, and the line adds that going home one cannot even see one's wife, an ill omen. As a model it describes a systemic bind where the obstacle ahead will not yield, the support behind is dangerous, and the occupant sits in a position that is itself wrong.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Detect the bind: name the immovable obstacle ahead and the unsafe support behind - Stop pressing both: ramming the rock and leaning on the thorns are both wasted effort - Leave the position: exit the arrangement instead of improving the moves inside it
Anchor fast decisions
The front is blocked by a force that will not yield to pressure, and the rear offers only a dangerous rest, so effort spent in either direction is wasted or harmful. Because both options run through the same flawed position, no local optimization can resolve the bind, and only changing where one stands removes both constraints at once.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikisource.orghttps://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%91%A8%E6%98%93/%E5%9B%B0verified
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