中孚

Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder → Hexagram 61: Inner Truth

The Arousing Thunder
Thunder / Thunder
中孚
Inner Truth
Wind / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 5, 6).

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.

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 LakeThe Arousing → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

神鳥五彩,鳳凰為主。集於山谷,使年歲育。

Divine birds of five colors; the phoenix is their sovereign. Gathering in the mountain valley; they make the year's harvest flourish.

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

Commentary

Thunder doubled meets wind over lake: shock distilled into Inner Truth. Divine birds of five colors, with the phoenix as sovereign, gather in the mountain valleys and cause the year's harvest to flourish. The phoenix (鳳凰) is the supreme auspicious bird that appears only under sage governance. Its 'five colors' represent the five virtues or five elements in harmony. When the phoenix settles in the valleys, the cosmic order is aligned and the harvest thrives. From The Arousing to Inner Truth, wind above lake, the verse shows how thunder's disruptive power, when it reaches the level of genuine sincerity, attracts the rarest blessings. The crane's call heard from the marshes, the young following — Inner Truth's image — here manifests as the phoenix gathering its court of lesser birds, radiating trustworthy virtue that makes all things grow.

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