The 64 hexagrams / Hexagram 49
Revolution
Hexagram 49 · 革 Gé
Lake above · Fire below
坎 palace · 四世
What hexagram 49 says
Fire inside the lake: incompatible, and therefore must change. But only when the day is ripe and people believe in it. Half a revolution is worse than none.
Above: Lake (Dui) — joyous, open, reflecting.
The six lines
Read from the bottom up. The first line is the beginning of the situation, the sixth is its outer edge. The Chinese text is the classical line text; the line below it is a reading of what it is pointing at.
yang — solid
yin — broken
yang — solid
yang — solid
yang — solid
yin — broken
How to use this hexagram
If you cast this as your primary hexagram, it describes the situation you are in. If it came up as the transformed hexagram, it describes where things are heading once the changing lines have flipped. If you are only looking it up, read the judgment first — the line texts are for specific moments inside the situation, not for the situation as a whole.
Frequently asked
What does I Ching hexagram 49 mean?
Hexagram 49, Revolution, is made of Lake above and Fire below. Fire inside the lake: incompatible, and therefore must change. But only when the day is ripe and people believe in it. Half a revolution is worse than none.
How do I read hexagram 49 in a casting?
Read the primary hexagram first — it describes the situation as it stands. If any of your six lines were changing lines (sixes or nines from the coin tosses), read those lines' texts next: they mark where the situation is moving. The hexagram produced after those lines flip is the transformed hexagram, and it shows where the movement leads.
What are the six lines of hexagram 49?
Hexagram 49 has six lines, read from the bottom up. The texts below are given in order, first line (bottom) to sixth line (top).
Which palace does hexagram 49 belong to?
In the six-line (liuyao) system, hexagram 49 sits in the 坎 palace, fourth generation — the inversion is deepening. The palace gives the hexagram its ruling element, and from that element the Six Relatives are assigned to each line.