Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder → Hexagram 53: Development

The Arousing Thunder
Thunder / Thunder
Development
Wind / Mountain
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 5, 6).

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 3

六三 震蘇蘇。震行无眚。

zhènthe thunder
awakens
and revives
zhènbe aroused
xíngto movement
and
shěngto distress

Six in the third place means: Shock comes and makes one distraught. If shock spurs to action One remains free of misfortune.

Line 4

九四 震遂泥。

zhènthe thunder
suìis followed by
mud

Nine in the fourth place means: Shock is mired.

Line 5

六五 震往來厲。意无喪有事。

zhènthe thunder
wǎngin
láiand
is difficult
the meaning
is not
sànglost
yǒuhaving
shìwork to do

Six in the fifth place means: Shock goes hither and thither. Danger. However, nothing at all is lost. Yet there are things to be done.

Line 6

上六 震索索。視矍矍。征凶。震不于其躬。于其鄰。无咎。婚媾有言。

zhènthe thunder
suǒstartles
suǒand confuses
shìlooking
juéin wild-eyed
juéin terror
zhēngto expedite
xiōngis foreboding
zhènthe thunder
is not
in
one's (own)
gōngbeing
but merely in
one's (own)
línneighborhood
there is no
jiùblame
hūneven a
gòusuitor
yǒuwill
yántalk

Six at the top means: Shock brings ruin and terrified gazing around. Going ahead brings misfortune. If it has not yet touched one's own body But has reached one's neighbor first, There is no blame. One's comrades have something to talk about.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramThunder WindThe Arousing → The Gentle
Lower TrigramThunder MountainThe Arousing → Keeping Still

Yilin Verse

孔德如玉。出於幽谷,飛上高木,鼓其羽翼。輝光照國。

Virtue of Kong, like jade. Emerging from a dark valley, soaring up to a lofty tree, beating its wings. Its radiance illumines the land.

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

Commentary

Thunder doubled meets wind over mountain: shock refined into the gradual advance of Development. Virtue like jade, from Confucius himself. Rising from a dark valley, flying up to the tall tree, beating its wings. Radiance illuminates the nation. The 'virtue like jade' (孔德如玉) likely refers to Confucius (孔), whose moral brilliance is compared to jade's lustrous purity. The bird rising from a shaded valley to a high tree echoes the Shijing ode about the oriole: 'From the dark valley it moves to the tall tree.' From The Arousing to Development, wind above mountain, trees grow on the mountainside — gradual, steady, and visible from afar. The verse traces the arc from obscurity to luminous influence, one stage at a time. Thunder's energy, channeled through patient cultivation, becomes a light that reaches the whole realm.

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