Hexagram 49, line 1
初九Line 1 of Reform
Nine at the beginning · 革 gé
爻辭 The line text
鞏用黃牛之革。The first line, undivided, shows its subject (as if he were) bound with the skin of a yellow ox.
鞏用黃牛，不可以有為也。'He is bound with (the skin of) a yellow ox:'—he should in his circumstances be taking action.
In plain words
The bottom line of Revolution is 'bound with the hide of a yellow ox'. Yellow is the colour of the centre, the ox is the most docile of animals, and its hide is the toughest binding there is: at the very beginning of a change nothing should be loosened. Line one is yang in the lowest place, with no corresponding line above (four is also yang), so it has strength but no one to act with. The small Image says it plainly: 不可以有為, one cannot yet undertake anything. Change needs a 'completed day' before people believe in it, and this line is far from that day.
If this line is changing
However clearly you see what needs to change, this is the moment to hold your position and keep your own conduct steady; acting now would be force without support.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 4: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
革 Reform becomes ䷞ 31 咸 Sensing
Lake on the mountain: the mountain yields and the lake moistens it — mutual attraction. Success; taking a wife brings good fortune; influence that comes from genuine, emptied-out receptiveness.
What it becomes31 · 咸 SensingxiánThe six lines of 革 Reform
- 初九Nine at the beginningbound fast · not yet · hold firm
- 六二Six in the second placethe ripe day · timing · go forward
- 九三Nine in the third placethree times over · haste · earn belief
- 九四Nine in the fourth placechange the mandate · trust · regret gone
- 九五Nine in the fifth placetiger's stripes · visible change · trusted before asking
- 上六Six at the topleopard's spots · changed faces · stop and hold
Read 革 Reform for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the beginning of hexagram 49, Reform, mean?
- The bottom line of Revolution is 'bound with the hide of a yellow ox'. Yellow is the colour of the centre, the ox is the most docile of animals, and its hide is the toughest binding there is: at the very beginning of a change nothing should be loosened. Line one is yang in the lowest place, with no corresponding line above (four is also yang), so it has strength but no one to act with. The small Image says it plainly: 不可以有為, one cannot yet undertake anything. Change needs a 'completed day' before people believe in it, and this line is far from that day.
- What does hexagram 49 become when line 1 changes?
- Reform becomes hexagram 31, 咸 Sensing: Lake on the mountain: the mountain yields and the lake moistens it — mutual attraction. Success; taking a wife brings good fortune; influence that comes from genuine, emptied-out receptiveness.
- Is line 1 of Reform in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).