革 → 萃
Hexagram 49: Revolution → Hexagram 45: Gathering Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 3).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
求麞嘉鄉，惡地不行。道止中遷，復反其床。
Seeking the deer in a fair land, refusing to travel the wicked ground. The road halts, one moves midway; turning back to one's own bed.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire within the lake transforms into the lake upon the earth — Gathering, where people and resources naturally converge. One seeks musk deer in a good district but refuses to travel through bad terrain. Midway, the road forces a change of course, and one returns to one's own bed. The hunter who insists on ideal conditions never completes the journey. The musk deer (麞) dwells in fine territory, but reaching it requires crossing unpleasant ground. From Revolution to Gathering, the transformation suggests that true congregation demands compromise: the gathering place may be inviting, but the road there is not. Those who turn back at the first rough patch gather nothing.
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