否 → 革
Hexagram 12: Standstill → Hexagram 49: Revolution
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 6).
Line 1
初六 拔茅茹。以其彙。貞吉。亨。
Six at the beginning means: When ribbon grass is pulled up, the sod comes with it. Each according to his kind. Perseverance brings good fortune and success.
Line 3
六三 包羞。
Six in the third place means: They bear shame.
Line 6
上九 傾否。先否後喜。
Nine at the top means: The standstill comes to an end. First standstill, then good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
齎貝贖狸，不聽我辭；繫於虎髯，牽不得來。
Offering cowries to ransom the wildcat; it will not heed my words. Tied to the tiger's whiskers; pull as one might, it will not come.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and earth refuse to communicate as one offers cowrie shells to ransom a wildcat, but no one heeds the plea. The cat is tied to a tiger's whiskers — pull as one might, it will not come free. From Standstill to Revolution, Pi's stagnation meets fire within the lake — Ge's image of irreconcilable elements demanding transformation. Yet the verse captures revolution's prerequisite failure: the old currency no longer works. Cowries offered for a cat are absurdly mismatched in value, and the cat attached to the tiger cannot be retrieved by any ordinary force. Revolution becomes necessary precisely when conventional exchange breaks down so completely that pulling harder only tightens the knot. The tiger's whiskers will not yield to shells.
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