Hexagram 49: 革

gé — seasonal change, divestment; shed skin

Upper TrigramLake
Lower TrigramFire

Judgment

革géseasonal change, divestment; shed skin
巳sìcomplete, conclude, finish
日rìa, the this, each day
乃nǎiand, only then; after this; precedes
孚fúbelieve(f), trust; be sure; reliance, assurance
元yuánfirst-rate, supreme, priority, the finest
亨hēngfulfillment, satisfaction, success, offering
利lìis worth, the harvest of; merits, rewards
貞zhēnpersistence, determination, resolve, loyalty
悔huǐregret(s), remorse; regret, repent and
亡wángwill pass, disappear, dissolve (s); move on

Revolution. On your own day you are believed. Supreme success, furthering through perseverance. Remorse disappears. When the time is ripe and the right people lead the change, revolution succeeds. But it must be necessary, not arbitrary.

Image

澤zéa, the lake, pool, pond, marsh
中zhōngwithin, inside; in the center, midst of
有yǒuis, there is
火huǒa, the fire, flame
革géseasonal change
君jūnthe noble, worthy, honored
子zǐyoung one, heir, disciple
以yǐaccordingly, therefore, thus
治zhìorganizes, arranges, constructs, puts in order
曆lìthe calendar(s), signs of heaven, ephemeris
明míngand, to clarify, understand, explain
時shíthe time, season(s), opportunity(ies)

Fire in the lake: the image of revolution. Thus the superior man sets the calendar in order and makes the seasons clear. Track the cycles. Know when change is necessary. Not every complaint requires revolution, but when the fundamental transformation is needed, act decisively.

Digital Artifact

Unix's Great Rewrite

Dennis Ritchie & Ken Thompson (1973)

Between 1969 and 1973, Unix existed in assembly language—tied completely to the PDP-7 hardware. Then Ritchie and Thompson did something radical: they rewrote the entire operating system in C. This wasn't iteration. This was revolution. Assembly code—raw, close to the metal, fast—replaced by high-level language code. The immediate cost: performance hit. The long-term gain: portability. Unix could now run on any machine with a C compiler. The old system had to die for the new one to live. Not because the old system was bad—it worked fine—but because the environment had changed. The necessity was fundamental: either Unix stayed locked to DEC hardware and slowly died, or it transformed completely and became the foundation for everything that followed. Fire below, lake above. The forces actually combat each other. Old paradigm fights new paradigm. But sometimes the old skin has to be shed. The timing was right, the people were ready, and the revolution succeeded.

Historical Context

Period
Zhou Dynasty
Oracle Bone Etymology
Fire (☲) sits below, Lake (☱) sits above—elements in fundamental conflict, destroying each other.
Traditional Use
The classical text describes revolution as molting—the necessary shedding of old forms when times demand it. Not undertaken lightly, only under stress of direst necessity.

Lines

Line 1: 鞏用黃牛之革

鞏gǒngbound, wrapped, secured, girded, affixed
用yòngusing, with, by means of
黃huángyellow, yellow-brown, golden
牛niúcow
之zhī...'s
革gérawhide; hide

Line 2: 巳日乃革之征吉無咎

巳sìcomplete, conclude, finish
日rìa, the this, each day
乃nǎiand, only then; after this; precedes
革géthe change, transformation, divestment ('s)
之zhīhas arrive(al), come (s, ed, ing); is here
征zhēngto expedite, assert, go boldly forward
吉jíis promising, auspicious, opportune, timely
無wúno; not; nothing; without, with no
咎jiùblame; is wrong; a mistake, an error

Line 3: 征凶貞厲革言三就有孚

征zhēngto expedite, assert, go ing boldly
凶xiōngis ill-omened, inauspicious; has pitfalls
貞zhēnpersistence, commitment, steadfastness
厲lìis difficult, stressful, rigorous, hard
革géof change, transformation, divestment
言yánwhen talk, word, discussion, proposal (s)
三sānthree times, a, for the third time
就jiùhas, have gone, come around, circulated
有yǒuthen be; rest; have
孚fúconfident, sure; assured; confidence, faith

Line 4: 悔亡有孚改命吉

悔huǐregret(s), remorse; regret, repent and
亡wángpass, disappear, dissolve (s); move on
有yǒube, stay; rest; have, hold
孚fúconfident, sure, assured; confidence, faith
改gǎichange, alter, rearrange, reorganize, revise
命mìngthe mandate, highest laws, charter(s)
吉jípromising, auspicious, opportune, timely

Line 5: 大人虎變未占有孚

大dàa, the mature, complete, realized, great
人rénhuman being, character, one, person ('s)
虎hǔtiger(-like)
變biàntransformation, metamorphosis, evolution
未wèieven before, prior to; without
占zhāndivining, casting lots, prognosticating
有yǒube, stay; rest; have
孚fúconfident, assured, sure; confidence, faith

Line 6: 君子豹變小人革面征凶居貞吉

君jūna, the noble, worthy, honored
子zǐyoung one, heir, disciple ('s)
豹bàopanther, leopard(-like)
變biàntransformation, metamorphosis, evolution
小xiǎothe lesser, common, ordinary, average
人rénpeople, ones, folk, human beings
革gémerely change, alter, amend, replace, shed
面miànleather masks, faces, facades, personae
征zhēngto expedite, assert, go boldly forward
凶xiōngis ill-omened, inauspicious; has pitfalls
居jūto practice, abide, dwell in; abiding
貞zhēnpersistence, determination, resolve, truth
吉jíis promising, auspicious, hopeful, timely

Practical Guidance

Sometimes you have to rewrite the whole thing. Not refactor—rewrite. Throw away the old system and build new from scratch. Here's what this probably means: two mistakes according to the classical text. Excessive haste—rushing into revolution before conditions are right. Excessive hesitation—refusing to change when change is necessary. The Unix team got the timing right. By 1973, they'd tried everything else. The assembly version couldn't port, couldn't scale. The necessity was real. Here's what matters: revolution requires authority and inner truth. You can't just blow everything up because you're bored or because there's a shiny new framework. The change has to correspond to actual necessity. When Ritchie and Thompson proposed the C rewrite, people believed them because (a) they'd built the original system and (b) the problem was real. The old way literally couldn't continue. So ask yourself: is this revolution necessary, or are you just restless? Is the current system actually broken in fundamental ways, or do you just want to try something new? Real revolution happens when there's no other path forward. Everything else is just churn. If it's real revolution: be like the tiger. Make the pattern clear. Move decisively. If it's not: maintain the current system. Don't mistake preference for necessity.

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