# Hexagram 49: Revolution

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/49
Last updated: 2026-10-07

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```

- **Upper trigram:** [Dui 兌](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/dui), Lake, the joyous, open
- **Lower trigram:** [Li 離](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/li), Fire, the clinging, clarity
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 101110 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Revolution: a necessary change, a molting. The old order no longer serves, and the time has come for transformation. But move only when the timing is genuinely ripe. Changes begun too early fail for lack of ground; those begun too late fail for lack of momentum. The art is in the timing.

## Image

Fire within the lake. The superior person orders the calendar and makes the seasons clear.

## Counsel

Test whether the time is truly ripe or whether you are merely impatient. When you are certain, act decisively and do not look back. Bring others with you through sincerity rather than coercion; a revolution accomplished against the genuine grain of the people does not endure. Once changed, do not revisit.

## The six lines

*Numbered from the bottom upward. These line texts are read when that line is changing in a cast.*

### Line 1

> A nine at the beginning means:
> One is wrapped in the skin of a yellow cow.

### Line 2

> A six in the second place means:
> On one's own day one may indeed revolutionize.
> Setting out brings good fortune. No blame.

### Line 3

> A nine in the third place means:
> Setting out brings misfortune. Perseverance brings danger.
> When the talk of revolution has gone around three times,
> then one may turn to it and will find faith.

### Line 4

> A nine in the fourth place means:
> Remorse vanishes. One finds faith.
> To change the state order brings good fortune.

### Line 5

> A nine in the fifth place means:
> The great man changes like a tiger.
> Even before he consults the oracle, he finds faith.

### Line 6

> A six at the top means:
> The noble one changes like a panther.
> The lesser one molts in the face.
> Setting out brings misfortune.
> To abide in perseverance brings good fortune.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [44 Coming to Meet](https://thefreeiching.com/library/44)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [50 The Cauldron](https://thefreeiching.com/library/50)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [4 Youthful Folly](https://thefreeiching.com/library/4)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [31 Influence](https://thefreeiching.com/library/31) |
| Line 2 | [43 Breakthrough](https://thefreeiching.com/library/43) |
| Line 3 | [17 Following](https://thefreeiching.com/library/17) |
| Line 4 | [63 After Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/63) |
| Line 5 | [55 Abundance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/55) |
| Line 6 | [13 Fellowship](https://thefreeiching.com/library/13) |

Previous: [48 The Well](https://thefreeiching.com/library/48). Next: [50 The Cauldron](https://thefreeiching.com/library/50). [All sixty-four hexagrams](https://thefreeiching.com/library).

*The judgment, image and counsel are original contemporary paraphrases written for The Free I Ching. The line text is the CC0 translation from [jesshewitt/i-ching](https://github.com/jesshewitt/i-ching), derived from Richard Wilhelm's 1924 German edition.*

## Cite this page

The Free I Ching. "Hexagram 49: Revolution." https://thefreeiching.com/library/49 (updated 2026-10-07).

*The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice. Short quotations with a link back are welcome. Please do not republish a page in full. The open data files at [/data](https://thefreeiching.com/data) are licensed CC BY 4.0.*

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Source: The Free I Ching (https://thefreeiching.com/library/49). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.