Hexagram 49, line 5
九五Line 5 of Reform
Nine in the fifth place · 革 gé
爻辭 The line text
大人虎變，未占有孚。The fifth line, undivided, shows the great man (producing his changes) as the tiger (does when he) changes (his stripes). Before he divines (and proceeds to action), faith has been reposed in him.
大人虎變，其文炳也。'The great man produces his changes as the tiger does when he changes his stripes:'—their beauty becomes more brilliant.
In plain words
'The great man changes like a tiger; before any divination, there is trust.' Line five is the ruler of the hexagram, yang and central in the upper trigram, with line two answering from below. A tiger's new coat after molting is bold and unmistakable; the ruler's reform is of that kind, clear in pattern and visible to everyone. 未佔有孚 means that nobody needs an oracle to know the change is right — it is believed before it is tested. The small Image: 其文炳也, the pattern is brilliant. The verdict is left unstated because the line's merit is self-evident.
If this line is changing
Make the change openly and completely, so that its shape is clear to everyone; a reform that has to be explained afterwards has not yet become a tiger's coat.
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 is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 兌 Dui (the Joyous) (lake).
- It corresponds (應) with line 2: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
革 Reform becomes ䷶ 55 豐 Plenty
Thunder and lightning together: abundance. The king reaches it; no sorrow — be like the sun at noon. But the sun at noon begins to set: fullness is a moment, not a possession.
What it becomes55 · 豐 PlentyfēngThe 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 fifth place of hexagram 49, Reform, mean?
- 'The great man changes like a tiger; before any divination, there is trust.' Line five is the ruler of the hexagram, yang and central in the upper trigram, with line two answering from below. A tiger's new coat after molting is bold and unmistakable; the ruler's reform is of that kind, clear in pattern and visible to everyone. 未佔有孚 means that nobody needs an oracle to know the change is right — it is believed before it is tested. The small Image: 其文炳也, the pattern is brilliant. The verdict is left unstated because the line's merit is self-evident.
- What does hexagram 49 become when line 5 changes?
- Reform becomes hexagram 55, 豐 Plenty: Thunder and lightning together: abundance. The king reaches it; no sorrow — be like the sun at noon. But the sun at noon begins to set: fullness is a moment, not a possession.
- Is line 5 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. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).