Upper Trigram
兌 Duì
Lake — Joyous
Lower Trigram
離 Lí
Fire — Clinging
Classical Texts
The Judgment
On your own day you are believed. Supreme success, furthering through persistence. Remorse disappears. Revolutions are extremely grave matters—undertaken only under direst necessity when there is no other way out. Not everyone is called to this task, only one who has the confidence of the people, and only when the time is ripe. Proceed in the right way to gladden the people and prevent excesses. Be free of selfish aims, genuinely relieve the need. Only then is there nothing to regret.
The Lines
Line 1
Wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow. Changes should be undertaken only when there is nothing else to be done. Utmost restraint is necessary at first. Become firm in your mind, control yourself, and refrain from doing anything for the time being. Any premature offensive will bring evil results.
Line 2
When your own day comes, you may create revolution. Starting brings good fortune. No blame. When every other way to bring about reforms has failed, revolution becomes necessary. But such thoroughgoing upheaval must be carefully prepared. A person with the requisite abilities and public confidence is needed. Go out to meet the new condition, preparing for it in advance.
Line 3
Starting brings misfortune. Persistence brings danger. When talk of revolution has gone the rounds three times, one may commit. And people will believe. Two mistakes to avoid: excessive haste and ruthlessness, or excessive hesitation and conservatism. Not every demand for change should be heeded, but repeated and well-founded complaints should not fail of a hearing.
Line 4
Remorse disappears. People believe. Changing the form of government brings good fortune. Radical changes require adequate authority—inner strength as well as influential position. What you do must correspond with higher truth, not spring from arbitrary or petty motives. People support only those undertakings they feel instinctively to be just.
Line 5
The great person changes like a tiger. Even before questioning the oracle, believed. A tiger's stripes are visible from afar. Large, clear guiding lines become understandable to everyone. You don't need to consult the oracle first—you win spontaneous support from the people.
Line 6
The superior person changes like a panther. The inferior person molts in the face. Starting brings misfortune. Remaining persistent brings good fortune. After the large problems are settled, certain minor reforms remain necessary. Inferior people also 'molt' in conformity with the new order, though this molting doesn't go very deep. Be satisfied with the attainable. If you go too far, trying to achieve too much, unrest and misfortune will result.
Yilin: Forest of Changes
From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 49 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.
馬服長股，宜行善市。蒙祐諧偶，獲金五倍。
The horse, tall with long legs, is fit for travel and good for market. Blessed with favor and a worthy match, the gold earned is fivefold.
Read full commentary ↓
Fire within the lake returns to fire within the lake — Revolution unchanged, the pattern repeating itself. Long-legged horses well suited to their harness, good for travel and commerce. Blessed with fortune and matched with a partner, one gains gold fivefold. When Revolution meets itself, the dynamic is pure transformation without destination: constant molting, constant renewal. The horse with long legs is built for the road; the merchant who matches goods to markets multiplies wealth. There is no resistance, no friction — the pattern flows. From Revolution to Revolution, the message is that some natures are made for change itself: the perpetual trader, the born adapter, profits precisely because nothing stays still.
中文注释
澤中有火，革之象也。馬服長股，宜行善市。蒙祐諧偶，獲金五倍。革之自變——火湖重疊，革故鼎新循環不已。長腿之馬天生適於行路經商，體格健壯、步伐穩健，善市者因時而動、隨機應變。命運眷顧，得遇良偶，獲利五倍。從革至革，有些天性本就為變革而生——永遠的行商者、天生的適應者，恰因萬物不停而獲利。革卦遇革卦，非動盪之災，乃善變者之福。
Related Hexagrams
Same upper trigram: Lake (兌)