革 → 益
Hexagram 49: Revolution → Hexagram 42: Increase
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 6).
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.
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
懿公淺愚，不深受謀。无援失國，為狄所賊。
Raising cranes while abandoning the people — the people scatter. Feeding birds while neglecting governance — the state gradually topples. Enemy troops enter the border, no one defends. The jade throne stands empty — only the cranes cry mournfully.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire within the lake transforms into wind and thunder — Increase, where the upper diminishes itself to benefit the lower. The original verse reads: 'Duke Yi, shallow and foolish, refused sound counsel. Without allies he lost his state, destroyed by the Di barbarians.' Duke Yi of Wei (r. 669-660 BC) was infatuated with cranes, granting them official ranks and carriages while his people starved. When the Di invaded in 660 BC, his soldiers refused to fight, saying: 'Let the cranes defend the state — they have the salaries.' The Duke died in battle and Wei was nearly extinguished. From Revolution to Increase, the devastating irony: Increase demands that rulers sacrifice to benefit the people, but Yi sacrificed the people to benefit his birds.
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