Revolution
- In Chinese
- 革 gé
- Above
- The Joyous, lake
- Below
- The Clinging, fire
Did you get this hexagram?
Mark your changing lines and keep your cast.
Mark my castWhat hexagram 49 means
Hexagram 49 is about change that is called for, and about the spirit and manner in which it is made. Fire lies below and the lake above.
The judgment says that such change is trusted only afterwards. In Legge's words it “is believed in only after it has been accomplished”.
Legge names the two conditions that should govern any change. They are “A proved necessity for them beforehand; and a firm correctness in the conduct of them”.
The judgment and the image
The judgment
革巳日乃孚。元亨，利貞，悔亡。
REVOLUTION. On your own day You are believed. Supreme success, Furthering through perseverance. Remorse disappears.
success things flow and come throughit furthers it is favorableremorse disappears regret fades away
The image
澤中有火，《革》。君子以治厤明時。
Fire in the lake: the image of REVOLUTION. Thus the superior man Sets the calendar in order And makes the seasons clear.
What the commentaries say
The commentary on the judgment finds the idea of change in the two trigrams. It sees “water and fire extinguishing each other”, and also “two daughters dwelling together, but with their minds directed to different objects”.
The same commentary explains why belief comes late. It says that “when the change has been made, faith is accorded to it”.
It then sets human change beside the change of nature. “Heaven and earth undergo their changes, and the four seasons complete their functions”, and the commentary ends with the words “Great indeed is what takes place in a time of change”.
The commentary names two rulers who changed the appointment to the throne. It says they did so “in accordance with (the will of) Heaven, and in response to (the wishes of) men”. It also ties the success of the judgment to “cultivated intelligence (as the basis of) pleased satisfaction”.
The image is fire in the middle of a marsh. From it the commentary draws a task of measuring time. The superior man “regulates his (astronomical) calculations, and makes clear the seasons and times”. Wilhelm gives the same task in plainer words, “Sets the calendar in order And makes the seasons clear”.
Legge explains the name. The character Ko first meant a skin or hide. He writes that “it received the significance of changing at a very early time”. He also notes the caution behind the judgment, that “change is viewed by people generally with suspicion and dislike, and should not be made hastily”.
The six lines
First line
鞏用黃牛之革。
Wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow.
no verdict
The bottom line is held back. Legge takes it as “change made at too early a period” and adds that it has no helper above. So its subject is shown “tied up, unable to take any action”. Wilhelm has the same picture, “Wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow.”
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 31, Influence
Second line
巳日乃革之，征吉，无咎。
When one’s own day comes, one may create revolution. Starting brings good fortune. No blame.
good fortune it goes wellno blame there is no mistake in it
Here the waiting ends. The change comes “after some time has passed”, and the text says “Action taken will be fortunate”. Legge notes that the line is weak but “in its correct place”, with a proper correlate in the strong fifth line, and he concludes “Let its subject take action in the way of change”.
The commentary on the line adds that “what he does will be matter of admiration”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 43, Breakthrough
Third line
征凶。貞厲。革言三就有孚。
Starting brings misfortune. Perseverance brings danger. When talk of revolution has gone the rounds three times, One may commit himself, And men will believe him.
misfortune it goes badlydanger there is danger
This line warns against haste. Action “will be evil”, and even a firm and correct subject stands in a position the text calls “perilous”. Legge says the conditions of the line may lead to “reckless and violent changing which would be bad”.
The line also gives the way through. The change is to be “three times fully discussed”, and then “he will be believed in”. Legge reads it as acting “cautiously and with due deliberation”.
Of that threefold discussion the commentary on the line asks “to what else should attention (now) be directed?”
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 17, Following
Fourth line
悔亡。有孚改命吉。
Remorse disappears. Men believe him. Changing the form of government brings good fortune.
remorse disappears regret fades awaygood fortune it goes well
Occasion for repentance disappears, and the line speaks of good fortune even in changing existing ordinances. The commentary says this good fortune “is due to the faith reposed in his aims”.
Legge notes that a strong line in a weak place could spoil the action, but that other conditions work the other way. If the subject has “further secured general confidence, he may proceed to the greatest changes”. Wilhelm's version of the line is “Changing the form of government brings good fortune.”
Among the conditions that favour action Legge counts the place itself. He writes that “the fourth place is that of the minister immediately below the ruler's seat”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 63, After Completion
Fifth line
大人虎變，未占有孚。
The great man changes like a tiger. Even before he questions the oracle He is believed.
no verdict
The great man changes as the tiger does. Trust comes first here, since “Before he divines (and proceeds to action), faith has been reposed in him”. The commentary says of the tiger's stripes that “their beauty becomes more brilliant”.
Legge treats this line as the lord of the hexagram and says that “his action will be in every way beneficial”. The changes he makes are pictured “by the bright stripes of the tiger when he has changed his coat”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 55, Abundance
Sixth line
君子豹變，小人革面，征凶，居貞吉。
The superior man changes like a panther. The inferior man molts in the face. Starting brings misfortune. To remain persevering brings good fortune.
misfortune it goes badlygood fortune it goes well
The top line has two figures. The superior man changes as the leopard does, and small men “change their faces (and show their obedience)”. Legge says the small man here is “compliant and submissive”.
The commentary says of the leopard's spots that “their beauty becomes more elegant”. Legge notes that the line is weak, but that its subject is “penetrated with the spirit of the hexagram”. Wilhelm's wording for the second figure is “The inferior man molts in the face.”
The line then sets a limit. Going forward “would lead to evil”, and good fortune lies “in abiding firm and correct”. Legge puts the lesson as “to abide firm and correct without taking any action of his own”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 13, Fellowship
Hexagram 49 unchanging
If none of your six lines is moving, you read the hexagram as a whole. That is the judgment and the image above, without any of the line texts.
The book gives the reason. Lines that do not move are “non-moving lines, which serve only as structural matter in the hexagram, without intrinsic meaning of their own”.
For hexagram 49 unchanging, what remains is the judgment, where change is believed in once it is done and firm correctness removes the occasion for repentance, and the image of the seasons and times made clear.
Questions people ask
What does hexagram 49 mean?
It speaks of change that is needed and carried out correctly. The judgment says it “is believed in only after it has been accomplished”, and that with firmness and correctness the occasion for repentance disappears.
What does hexagram 49 unchanging mean?
With no moving lines you read only the judgment and the image. For hexagram 49 that is change believed in once it is done, and the superior man who “makes clear the seasons and times”.
What does hexagram 49 changing to 63 mean?
It is hexagram 49 with its fourth line moving. That line shows “occasion for repentance disappearing”, and it speaks of good fortune for the one who is believed in. When it changes the hexagram becomes number 63.
What does hexagram 49 changing to 55 mean?
It is hexagram 49 with its fifth line moving. That line shows the great man changing as the tiger does, with faith “reposed in him” before he acts. When it changes the hexagram becomes number 55.
Richard Wilhelm, translated by Cary F. Baynes. Ko in James Legge. Revolution in Wilhelm and Baynes.
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