師 → 革
Hexagram 7: The Army → Hexagram 49: Revolution
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Line 1
初六 師出以律。否臧凶。
Six at the beginning means: An army must set forth in proper order. If the order is not good, misfortune threatens.
Line 2
九二 在師中吉。无咎。王三錫命。
Nine in the second place means: In the midst of the army. Good fortune. No blame. The king bestows a triple decoration.
Line 3
六三 師或輿尸。凶。
Six in the third place means: Perchance the army carries corpses in the wagon. Misfortune.
Line 4
六四 師左次。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: The army retreats. No blame.
Line 5
六五 田有禽。利執言。无咎。長子帥師。弟子輿尸。貞凶。
Six in the fifth place means: There is game in the field. It furthers one to catch it. Without blame. Let the eldest lead the army. The younger transports corpses; Then perseverance brings misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
秋冬探巢，不得鵲雛。衘指北去，慚我少夫。
Searching nests in autumn and winter, no magpie chicks to find. Biting his finger, he goes north; I am ashamed before my young husband.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water hidden within the earth shifts with the seasons, and in autumn and winter one searches the nest but finds no magpie chicks. The young birds have long since fledged and flown — the search comes too late. Biting one's finger, one heads north in shame, embarrassed before one's young husband. The verse captures the pain of mistimed action: what was sought has already departed, and the seeker is left with nothing but the humiliation of arriving after the season has turned. From The Army to Revolution, fire within the lake transforms everything it touches. The empty nest is itself a revolution: the old order has already changed, and clinging to what was there invites only shame.
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