What this hexagram is about
A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain, its waters not yet finding their course — the image of ignorance awaiting enlightenment. This is the way of teaching: it is not the teacher who seeks the pupil, but the pupil who comes in earnest; to dispel folly takes both firmness and patience, clearing away what blinds and nurturing virtue in its place.
The Judgment 卦辞
亨。匪我求童蒙，童蒙求我。初筮告，再三渎，渎则不告。利贞。
Success. It is not I who seek the young and ignorant; the young and ignorant seek me. At the first divining I answer; ask a second and third time, and that is pestering — and to pestering I give no answer. It is favorable to persevere.
The Image 大象传
《象》曰：山下出泉，蒙；君子以果行育德。
A spring wells up below the mountain; so the noble person acts with resolve and nurtures virtue.
Commentary on the Lines 小象传
利用刑人，以正法也。
It is fitting to discipline — so as to set the law straight.
The Six Lines (hover over the figure above)
Six at the top击蒙，不利为寇，利御寇。
To strike through ignorance with vigorous force; severity that turns to violence is wrong — such firmness is fitting only to ward off harm from without and to keep one from straying.
Six in the fifth place童蒙，吉。
To receive instruction with the innocence and openness of a child brings good fortune.
Nine in the fourth place困蒙，吝。
Trapped in one's own ignorance with no one to give light, there will be cause for regret.
Six in the third place勿用取女，见金夫，不有躬，无攸利。
One should not take such a woman to wife: at the sight of a man of wealth and power she loses her own integrity, and to wed her brings no benefit.
Nine in the second place包蒙，吉。纳妇，吉。子克家。
To embrace and instruct the ignorant brings good fortune — as auspicious as taking a worthy wife; and the children too will be able to carry on the household.
Initial Six发蒙，利用刑人，用说桎梏，以往吝。
To break through ignorance, one must set authority through rule and discipline, freeing the pupil from his fetters and setting him on the right path; but to rely on punishment alone, and press on with it, leads to distress.