革 → 比
Hexagram 49: Revolution → Hexagram 8: Holding Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4).
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 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
白虎赤憤，闚觀王庭。宮闕被甲，大小出征。天地煩憒，育不能嬰。
The white tiger rages crimson, peering at the royal court. Palace halls are clad in armor; great and small march to war. Heaven and earth in turmoil; even nurturing cannot keep the infant safe.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire within the lake erupts as the White Tiger rages crimson with fury, glaring into the royal court. Palace and watchtower don armor; great and small march to war. Heaven and earth churn in turmoil; even nurturing an infant becomes impossible. The White Tiger — celestial guardian of the west, lord of autumn and metal — here embodies martial violence spilling into the seat of government. Revolution has gone too far: instead of renewal, it produces universal mobilization and chaos so total that even the most basic human act, raising a child, fails. From Revolution to Holding Together, the grim irony emerges: forced unity under arms is no unity at all.
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