革 → 屯
Hexagram 49: Revolution → Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 3, 4).
Line 3
九三 征凶貞厲。革言三就。有孚。
Nine in the third place means: 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.
Line 4
九四 悔亡有孚。改命吉。
Nine in the fourth place means: Remorse disappears. Men believe him. Changing the form of government brings good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
憂禍解除，喜至慶來。坐立懽門，與樂為鄰。
Worry and misfortune dispelled; joy arrives, blessings come. Seated and standing at the gate of gladness, dwelling as a neighbor to delight.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire within the lake transforms into thunder stirring beneath gathering clouds. Worries and calamities dissolve; joy arrives and celebration follows. One sits and stands at the gate of delight, neighboring happiness itself. Revolution clears the crisis, and what emerges is the fresh turbulence of Difficulty at the Beginning — not yet order, but the birth-pangs of something new. The mood here is relief after danger: the old threat is gone, and though the path ahead is tangled, the emotional register is festive. From Revolution to Difficulty at the Beginning, the pattern is unmistakable: destruction of the old releases a burst of optimism that carries one through the initial chaos of rebuilding.
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