Hexagram 49, line 3
九三Line 3 of Reform
Nine in the third place · 革 gé
爻辭 The line text
征凶，貞厲，革言三就，有孚。The third line, undivided, shows that action taken by its subject will be evil. Though he be firm and correct, his position is perilous. If the change (he contemplates) have been three times fully discussed, he will be believed in.
革言三就，又何之矣。'The change (contemplated) has been three times fully discussed:'—to what else should attention (now) be directed?
In plain words
Line three is yang in a yang place at the top of Li, fire at its hottest and most eager: 'to go forward is ominous; even if correct, there is danger.' This is the line that wants the revolution now. The text offers a way through: 革言三就 — let the proposal for change be worked through three times until it holds together, and then there will be trust. Cheng Yi reads it as patience with deliberation; what is hasty at three becomes credible only by being examined again and again. The small Image asks, once it has been thrice confirmed, 又何之矣 — where else is there to go? Nothing is left but to carry it out.
If this line is changing
Do not push the change through on the strength of your own conviction; put the case three times, let it be questioned, and move only when it has survived the questioning.
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 corresponds (應) with line 6: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
革 Reform becomes ䷐ 17 隨 Following Along
Thunder resting in the lake: following the time, taking rest in the evening. Supreme success in following what is right — and in being worth following.
What it becomes17 · 隨 Following AlongsuíThe 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 in the third place of hexagram 49, Reform, mean?
- Line three is yang in a yang place at the top of Li, fire at its hottest and most eager: 'to go forward is ominous; even if correct, there is danger.' This is the line that wants the revolution now. The text offers a way through: 革言三就 — let the proposal for change be worked through three times until it holds together, and then there will be trust. Cheng Yi reads it as patience with deliberation; what is hasty at three becomes credible only by being examined again and again. The small Image asks, once it has been thrice confirmed, 又何之矣 — where else is there to go? Nothing is left but to carry it out.
- What does hexagram 49 become when line 3 changes?
- Reform becomes hexagram 17, 隨 Following Along: Thunder resting in the lake: following the time, taking rest in the evening. Supreme success in following what is right — and in being worth following.
- Is line 3 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).