革 → 小畜
Hexagram 49: Revolution → Hexagram 9: Small Taming
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 6).
Line 2
六二 巳日乃革之。征吉无咎。
Six in the second place means: When one's own day comes, one may create revolution. Starting brings good fortune. No blame.
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
子車鍼虎，善人危殆。黃鳥悲鳴，傷國无輔。
Ziche, Zhen, and Hu; good men brought to peril. The yellow bird cries in sorrow; the state is wounded, bereft of its pillars.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire within the lake gives way to wind above heaven — a gentle force that cannot restrain what has been lost. The Ziche brothers Zhenhu and his kin were good men brought to peril. The yellow birds cry in grief, mourning a state robbed of its pillars. This alludes to the burial alive of Duke Mu of Qin's three loyal retainers from the Ziche clan — Yanxi, Zhonghang, and Zhenhu — in 621 BC. The Shijing lament 'Yellow Bird' cries: 'That azure heaven! It destroys our good men.' From Revolution to Small Taming, the transformation warns that revolutionary zeal may consume the very talents it needs: wind above heaven can polish virtue, but it cannot restore the dead.
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