49. Gé 革
REVOLUTION, TRANSFORMATION
REVOLUTION, TRANSFORMATION
Radical changes are necessary, the old order must be abolished to make room for the new, but only after thorough contemplation.
Radical changes are necessary, the old order must be abolished to make room for the new, but only after thorough contemplation.
Hexagram Structure
Below is Fire, radiance and cohesion; above is the Lake, the element of joyful resolution. From their meeting the Book derives the moment when what has accumulated no longer fits into the former shape — and the shape is annulled. The situation has come out of the previous one, where forces gathered in stillness like water in the depths; now it is their turn to come out and be cast anew. The aphorism of the sign is notable for repeating the fourfold formula of the very first sign of the Book — the one that promises fulfilment from the source and a reward for a direction held to the end. The repetition is no accident: a new cycle of creation starts here, and so former mistakes can be written off in full — what is made anew inherits no old debts. One condition is set, and it is a hard one: inner truth has to be kept to the last day of the process, without running out of breath halfway. A renewal dropped midway is worse than no renewal at all: the old shape has already been taken off and the new one is not finished.
How It Works in Practice
Confidence may be in short supply now, and that is a temporary state: it will come back on its own, and along with it new prospects you cannot see yet. This process does not need hurrying — it is enough not to block it. Self-doubt on the threshold of large changes is the usual price for old landmarks having stopped working while new ones are not set up yet.
Everything around has come into motion, and the motion is friendly: circumstances are changing for the better without any pressure from you. Do not be surprised if recent plans have to be rewritten and the road leads somewhere you were not heading at all — for this period such a turn is not a malfunction but the norm. Flexibility is worth more right now than loyalty to the original route.
The run of luck extends to gambling as well: risk pays off in this season, and the results can outstrip the boldest expectations. That is no reason to stake everything, but it is a reason not to turn down chances that come to hand of their own accord: right now they are bigger and closer than usual.
The direct advice is short: do not be afraid of change. Whatever you take on in this period will bring more success than you built into your calculations. The one thing that can devalue time working in your favour is fear of the new and the attempt to keep everything as it was.
Traditional Description
Above is the trigram Dui (Lake), below is the trigram Li (Fire). The metaphorical image of this hexagram is a snake shedding its old skin. The concept of fire under the surface of the lake immediately suggests opposing tendencies. The lake will try to extinguish the fire, while the fire will try to dry up the lake.
When discrepancies arise, sometimes radical changes are necessary. Just as animals shed their old fur with the change of seasons, so the old order must be abolished to make room for the new. In the political world, this can manifest as revolutions, as has happened many times throughout the history of Chinese dynasties.
Just as a political revolution, before appearing in the external world, appears in consciousness, all radical changes in our lives must occur after thorough contemplation. All options must be weighed.
Even after such deliberation, we must wait for the most favorable time to act. Ge reminds us that to gain the support of others, we must not introduce virtuous changes hastily. Choosing the right time for effective changes is essential. The Book of Changes says: “When a person, having determined his place in life and his life stance, cannot act appropriately according to the events and adapt to the time, it is because he does not understand the law of transformations and transfigurations of the Heavenly Way.” Therefore, everything has its time, remember that everything has its pace of events.nnnnn
I Ching Talking
The great person is as active as a tiger. And before divination, he already possesses the truth
Hexagram Line Descriptions
Read more
The top line lowers the scale: instead of a tiger, a leopard — an agile beast, but without the earlier might. Change at this step turns into an outward touch-up, and a petty person is capable of altering no more than the expression on their face, leaving the substance untouched. To press the expansion further from here leads to trouble; the good now lies in staying firmly in place. The renewal has taken place, and its last piece of work is to secure what was reached rather than chase the next turn of the spiral.
Read more
At the fifth position the change reaches full force and full obviousness. The great person moves like a tiger: powerfully, swiftly, in plain sight of everyone — a striped hide cannot be hidden, and there is no reason to hide it. The inner truth here is so large that it needs no checking by divination: the outcome is clear before any question is put. Outer and inner have coincided without a gap, and the authority of such action is not disputed — it proves itself by itself.
Read more
The fourth step brings the change outward, and its swing is the widest of all: the one who holds the truth changes their own fate. The combination of trigrams suggests the image of a foundry — the metal above softens on the fire below, and the set past becomes fluid again. Repentance has nothing to catch on to at this point: truth understood all the way through closes the account with the past. The good fortune of the step is the good fortune of a person who has taken the future into their own hands.
Read more
The crisis of the third step is a crisis of trust. Nobody believes the renewal on its first announcement: the change will have to be spoken of three times, and only after that will the words start to be taken seriously. The worst move in this stretch is to rush off on a campaign against a background of confusion and low spirits — such a march ends in trouble. Blind stubbornness frozen on its own position is dangerous too. What remains is patient confirmation of intent: slow, but the only thing that works.
Read more
The second position allows movement, but with a proviso about timing: the change is carried out only once the former day is over. Whoever hurries breaks what is alive; whoever comes late fusses over what is dead. Here, though, the inner forces combine so harmoniously that setting out is called outright fortunate and blameless. For the Book this is a rare case of unconditional approval of activity: the moment is ripe, the composition of forces is right, and what remains is to act without looking back.
Read more
The first step is not yet ready for the overturn: the forces have not shown themselves outwardly, and the task of the moment is to secure a footing. The text is built on wordplay — the same character names both change and hide, so the means of strengthening becomes the skin of a yellow cow. Both parts of the image speak: yellow is the colour of the middle and of balance, which this line is oriented toward, and the cow is pliancy embodied. The right action here is to draw together and fix what is already there, leaving the start of the change to the positions above.
The sign has no summary aphorism for the case where all the lines are strong; the conclusion assembles itself out of the run of the six steps. Below, the change is bound with straps and made to wait for the end of the day; in the middle, trust is won three times over; above, it thunders in a tiger's leap and dies away in a leopard's spots. One requirement runs through every position: a truth that does not run out of breath before the very end. A renewal begun without it changes faces but not fates — on that difference the sign insists from the first line to the sixth.