Hexagram 27: Nourishment → Hexagram 49: Revolution

Nourishment
Mountain / Thunder
Revolution
Lake / Fire
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5, 6).

Line 3

六三 拂頤。貞凶。十年勿用。无攸利。

dismissing
the hungry mouth
zhēnpersistence
xiōngis unfortunate
shífor ten
niányears
not to be
yònguseful
this is no
yōua direction
with merit

Six in the third place means: Turning away from nourishment. Perseverance brings misfortune. Do not act thus for ten years. Nothing serves to further.

Line 4

六四 顛頤。吉。虎視眈眈。其欲逐逐。无咎。

diānabnormal
appetite
is promising
the tiger
shìlooks
dānstaring
dānand staring
with its own
passion
zhúis to hunt
zhúand give chase
but no
jiùblame

Six in the fourth place means: Turning to the summit For provision of nourishment Brings good fortune. Spying about with sharp eyes Like a tiger with insatiable craving. No blame.

Line 5

六五 拂經。居貞吉。不可涉大川。

dismissing
jīngthe norms
to practice
zhēnpersistence
is promising
but one is not
suited
shèto
the great
chuānstream

Six in the fifth place means: Turning away from the path. To remain persevering brings good fortune. One should not cross the great water.

Line 6

上九 由頤。厲吉。利涉大川。

yóuat
the appetites
distress
but promising
it is worthwhile
shèto cross
the great
chuānstream

Nine at the top means: The source of nourishment. Awareness of danger brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramMountain LakeKeeping Still → The Joyous
Lower TrigramThunder FireThe Arousing → The Clinging

Yilin Verse

言無要約,不成劵契。殷叔季姬,公孫爭之。彊入委禽,不悅於心。

Words lack binding pledge; no contract or deed is formed. The Yin lord youngest daughter and the Gongsun clan contend for her. The betrothal gifts are forced upon them; it does not please the heart.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Mountain over thunder transforms into lake over fire — Revolution, the hexagram of radical change. Words lack binding force, contracts never finalize. The verse then alludes to a disputed marriage: a lady of the Yin and Ji clans becomes the object of competing suitors who force their betrothal gifts upon her, yet the match pleases no one's heart. The forced marriage — gifts sent (weiqin) without genuine consent — becomes a metaphor for agreements imposed without mutual nourishment. From Nourishment to Revolution, the transformation demands authenticity: revolution succeeds only when the old order is genuinely exhausted. Here, false contracts and coerced unions must be overthrown, because nourishment forced upon the unwilling feeds nothing.

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