Hexagram 32: Duration → Hexagram 49: Revolution

Duration
Thunder / Wind
Revolution
Lake / Fire
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5).

Line 1

初六 浚恆貞凶。无攸利。

jùndig
héngfor
zhēnpersistence
xiōngis disappointing
this is no
yōua direction
with merit

Six at the beginning means: Seeking duration too hastily brings misfortune persistently. Nothing that would further.

Line 2

九二 悔亡。

huǐregrets
wángpass

Nine in the second place means: Remorse disappears.

Line 5

六五 恒其德貞。婦人吉。夫子凶。

héngcontinuity
in
character
zhēnis
for a
rénmaturity
is promising
for a
youth
xiōngis

Six in the fifth place means: Giving duration to one's character through perseverance. This is good fortune for a woman, misfortune for a man.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramThunder LakeThe Arousing → The Joyous
Lower TrigramWind FireThe Gentle → The Clinging

Yilin Verse

六月種黍,歲晚無雨,秋不宿酒,神失其所。

Planting millet in the sixth month; by year’s end, no rain falls. In autumn, no wine is stored; the spirits lose their rightful place.

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

Commentary

Thunder above wind, Duration's seasonal constancy, meets lake above fire — Revolution's transformative upheaval. Millet is planted in the sixth month, but by year's end no rain has come. In autumn there is no grain to brew; the spirit of the land loses its proper place. The verse describes agricultural catastrophe through failed timing: the crop cycle that Duration should sustain has been broken by drought. Without rain, the harvest fails; without grain, the autumn libation cannot be offered; without sacrifice, the territorial spirit is displaced. From Duration to Revolution, the steady seasonal order demands radical change. Lake-fire represents the caldron of transformation, but here the revolution is not chosen — it is forced by nature's refusal to cooperate. When the rains fail, the entire ritual-agricultural calendar collapses.

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