革 → 晉
Hexagram 49: Revolution → Hexagram 35: Progress
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 鞏用黃牛之革。
Nine at the beginning means: Wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow.
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 5
九五 大人虎變。未占有孚。
Nine in the fifth place means: The great man changes like a tiger. Even before he questions the oracle He is believed.
Line 6
上六 君子豹變。小人革面。征凶。居貞吉。
Six at the top means: The superior man changes like a panther. The inferior man molts in the face. Starting brings misfortune. To remain persevering brings good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
牽尾不前，逆理失臣。惠朔以奔。
The plow-ox won't budge, the whip is broken. The cart sinks in deep ruts — pushing is useless. The loyal minister remonstrates bitterly but the lord won't listen — removing his seal, hanging up his cap, he leaves the city by night.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire within the lake transforms into fire above the earth — Progress, where the sun rises to illuminate all. The original verse reads: 'Pulling the tail, it won't advance; reason is reversed, and the minister is lost. Hui and Shuo therefore flee.' A minister's counsel falls on deaf ears — the ox refuses the whip, the cart sinks in its rut. The loyal adviser, frustrated beyond endurance, resigns his seal and departs the city by night. From Revolution to Progress, the painful irony emerges: the sun rises over the earth, but the ruler refuses its light. When a court rejects its wisest voices, progress becomes self-defeating — the dawn illuminates an empty hall.
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