Hexagram 49
泽火革
Revolution
Hexagram 49, Ge (Revolution), is Fire within the Lake - fire burning beneath the water's surface, the two forces unable to coexist, so change becomes inevitable.
Upper Trigram
☱
兑 (金)
Lower Trigram
☲
离 (火)
Palace
坎 Palace
Shi / Ying Lines
Shi: Line 4 · Ying: Line 1
The 兑 trigram (金) sits above the 离 trigram (火), forming 泽火革. This hexagram belongs to the 坎 Palace.
Judgment (卦辞)
Revolution. On your own day you are believed. Supreme success.
Judgment text follows the Wilhelm–Baynes translation (The I Ching or Book of Changes, Princeton University Press), quoted for commentary.
Image (象辞)
Fire in the lake: the image of Revolution.
Line Texts (爻辞)
Wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow. (巩用黄牛之革)
When one's own day comes, create revolution. (巳日乃革之)
Starting brings misfortune. Talk of revolution three times. (征凶)
Remorse disappears. Men believe him. (悔亡)
The great man changes like a tiger. (大人虎变)
The superior man changes like a panther. (君子豹变)
Hexagram 49 in Love & Relationships
Relationships: Some relationships must be remade, not patched. Shed the outworn form when it no longer fits.
Hexagram 49 in Career & Decisions
Career: Change only when the time is ripe. A premature revolution fails; a delayed one misses its moment.
Hexagram 49 as a yes / no answer
Depends on timing
The hexagram counsels timing and care: the answer depends on how and when you proceed.
The I Ching reads situations, not fixed outcomes — your reading can weigh the moving lines with this leaning.
In-Depth Analysis[+]
Hexagram 49, Ge (Revolution), is Fire within the Lake - fire burning beneath the water's surface, the two forces unable to coexist, so change becomes inevitable. This is the hexagram of transformation, of the moment when the old order can no longer hold and must be remade. The judgment: 'on your own day you are believed' - revolution succeeds only when its time has truly come. The lines trace the process: the yellow cowhide (cautious preparation), the threefold deliberation, and the final transformation where the great man changes like a tiger, the superior man like a panther. Ge teaches that revolution is not destruction for its own sake, but the shedding of an outworn skin so the new can live.
Historical Stories[+]
The American Revolution, justified and believed only when the time was ripe - 'on your own day you are believed' - the old skin of monarchy shed for a new order.
A snake molting its skin: the old cannot stretch to hold the new, so it must be shed. Change, when necessary, is renewal, not loss.
Practical Applications[+]
Career: Change only when the time is ripe. A premature revolution fails; a delayed one misses its moment.
Relationships: Some relationships must be remade, not patched. Shed the outworn form when it no longer fits.
Personal Growth: What old skin are you ready to shed? Transformation is renewal, not betrayal of your past.
Classical Sources for Hexagram 49
增删卜易 (Adding and Removing — A Divination Primer)清 (Qing Dynasty, 1644–1912)
The core case-study methodology, the Six-Relation classification system, and the framework for analyzing changing lines (Dong Yao).
Related Hexagrams
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