Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder → Hexagram 40: Deliverance

The Arousing Thunder
Thunder / Thunder
Deliverance
Thunder / Water
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 2).

Line 1

初九 震來虩虩。後笑言啞啞。吉。

zhènthe shock
láibrings (about)
fear
and terror
hòuand afterwards
xiàomirthful
yánwords
èand echoing
èlaughter
promising

Nine at the beginning means: Shock comes–oh, oh! Then follow laughing words–ha, ha! Good fortune.

Line 2

六二 震來厲。億喪貝。躋于九陵。勿逐。七日得。

zhènthe thunder
láibrings (about)
difficulty
a hundred thousand
sànglost
bèibelongings
and climb
up
jiǔnine
línghill
do not
zhúpursue

Six in the second place means: Shock comes bringing danger. A hundred thousand times You lose your treasures And must climb the nine hills. Do not go in pursuit of them. After seven days you will get them back again.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramThunder Thunder
Lower TrigramThunder WaterThe Arousing → The Deep

Yilin Verse

胡俗戎狄,太陰所積。固冰沍寒,君子不存。

Barbarian customs of the Rong and Di; where great yin accumulates. Solid ice and bitter cold; the gentleman cannot endure.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Thunder doubled meets thunder over water: shock released into Deliverance. The foreign customs of the Hu and Rong barbarians, where extreme yin accumulates. Hard ice and bitter cold — the gentleman cannot survive here. The verse describes the frozen northern frontier, land of nomadic peoples whose customs stand opposite to Chinese ritual civilization. The 'extreme yin' (太陰) of the steppe is both climatic and cultural — a realm where Confucian virtue finds no foothold. From The Arousing to Deliverance, thunder and rain work together to dissolve what is frozen. Yet the verse offers no such release: the ice holds, the cold persists, the gentleman finds no place to stand. Deliverance is the promise; the barbarian wastes are the unredeemed condition that awaits it.

The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store

Related Pages