Hexagram 49 革 changing to hexagram 40 解
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 3, 5.
What to read
Four changing lines: read the two unchanged lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 40 解, line 4
解而拇，朋至斯孚。
(To the subject of) the fourth line, undivided, (it is said), 'Remove your toes. Friends will (then) come, between you and whom there will be mutual confidence'
Hexagram 40 解, line 6
公用射隼，于高墉之上，獲之，无不利。
In the sixth line, divided, we see a feudal prince (with his bow) shooting at a falcon on the top of a high wall, and hitting it. (The effect of his action) will be in every way advantageous.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 49 革 — judgment
已日乃孚，元亨。利貞。悔亡。
(What takes place as indicated by) Ko is believed in only after it has been accomplished. There will be great progress and success. Advantage will come from being firm and correct. (In that case) occasion for repentance will disappear.
Hexagram 40 解 — judgment
利西南，无所往，其來復吉。有攸往，夙吉。
In (the state indicated by) Kieh advantage will be found in the south-west. If no (further) operations be called for, there will be good fortune in coming back (to the old conditions). If some operations be called for, there will be good fortune in the early conducting of them.
The changing lines of hexagram 49
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 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. |
| 2 | 已日乃革之，征吉，无咎。 | The second line, divided, shows its subject making his changes after some time has passed. Action taken will be fortunate. There will be no error. |
| 3 | 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. |
| 5 | 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. |
English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.