Reading
Judgment
Revolution.
On your own day you find faith.
Sublime success, furthering through perseverance.
Remorse vanishes.
State revolutions are something extremely grave. One may undertake them only in the utmost emergency, when no other way out remains. Not everyone is called to them, but only the one who has the trust of the people, and even that one only when the time is fulfilled. One must in this proceed in the right manner, so that one gives the people joy and, through enlightenment, prevents excesses. One must furthermore be wholly free of selfish aims and must truly remedy the distress of the people. Only then has one nothing to regret.
Times change and with them the demands. So the seasons change in the course of the year. So too in the world-year there is spring and autumn of peoples and nations, which require social transformations.
Image
In the lake is fire: the image of Revolution.
Thus the noble one orders the reckoning of time
and makes the times clear.
The fire below and the lake above combat and destroy each other. So also in the course of the year a struggle of the light and dark forces takes place, which works itself out in the revolutions of the seasons. The human being becomes master over the change of nature when they recognize its regularity and divide the course of time accordingly. Thereby order and clarity come into the apparently chaotic change of the times, and one can orient oneself in advance to the demands of the various times.
Commentary
The hexagram originally means an animal skin that changes in the course of the year through molting. From there the word is transferred to the moltings in state life, the great revolutions that are connected with a change of government. The two figures that compose the hexagram are, as in K'uei, or "Opposition" (Number 38), the two younger daughters Li and Tui. But while there the elder of the two stands above and there arises essentially only an opposition of tendencies, here the younger is above, and the effects go against each other; the forces combat each other like fire and water (lake), each of which strives to destroy the other. Hence the thought of revolution.
Changing Lines
Line 1
A nine at the beginning means:
One is wrapped in the skin of a yellow cow.
Commentary
Changes are to be undertaken only when it is not possible otherwise. Therefore utmost restraint is first necessary. One must become firm inwardly, moderate oneself (yellow is the color of the middle, the cow is the symbol of pliancy), and first not undertake anything, for every premature striking has evil consequences.
Line 2
A six in the second place means:
On one's own day one may indeed revolutionize.
Setting out brings good fortune. No blame.
Commentary
When one has tried everything to reform conditions without it being successful, then the necessity of a revolution arises. But such a sweeping revolution must be well prepared. There must be a man who has the abilities and public trust. To such a man one may then turn. That brings good fortune and is no mistake. It is first a matter of the inner attitude toward the new that must come. One must, as it were, go to meet it. Only thereby is it prepared.
Line 3
A nine in the third place means:
Setting out brings misfortune. Perseverance brings danger.
When the talk of revolution has gone around three times,
then one may turn to it and will find faith.
Commentary
When change is necessary, there are two mistakes that one must avoid. The one is too quick and inconsiderate proceeding, which is bound up with misfortune. The other is over-conservative hesitation, which is likewise dangerous. One must not listen to every speech that calls for change of the existing. But one must not overhear repeated and well-grounded complaints either. When three times the word of change comes to one and one has well considered it, then one may give it faith and engage in it. Then one will find faith and attain something.
Line 4
A nine in the fourth place means:
Remorse vanishes. One finds faith.
To change the state order brings good fortune.
Commentary
Radical changes require the necessary authority. Both the inner strength of character must be present and the influential position. It must correspond to a higher truth, what one does, and must not spring from arbitrary or petty motives; then it brings great good fortune. If no such inner truth lies at the ground of a revolution, it is always evil and has no success. For people in the end support only such undertakings for whose inner justice they have an instinctive feeling.
Line 5
A nine in the fifth place means:
The great man changes like a tiger.
Even before he consults the oracle, he finds faith.
Commentary
A tiger skin with its clearly visible black stripes on a yellow ground is clearly divided, visible from afar. So it is with revolutions that a great man brings about: great, clear guidelines become visible that everyone can understand. He does not first need to consult the oracle, for the people fall to him quite of themselves.
Line 6
A six at the top means:
The noble one changes like a panther.
The lesser one molts in the face.
Setting out brings misfortune.
To abide in perseverance brings good fortune.
Commentary
After the great fundamental questions have been decided, transformations in detail and more exact carryings-through are still necessary. These are to be compared with the likewise clear but smaller spots of the panther skin. Also among the lesser, a change takes place as a result. They too molt in accord with the new order. To be sure, this molting is not deep-going, but that cannot be expected either. One must be content with what is possible. Were one to want to go too far and achieve too much, this would result in unrest and misfortune. For what is to be striven for through a great revolution are clear, firm conditions that grant a general reassurance with what is possible at the time.