Hexagram 49: Revolution
Ge · 革
The Judgment
On your own day you are believed. Supreme success, furthering through persistence. Remorse disappears. Revolutions are extremely grave matters—undertaken only under direst necessity when there is no other way out. Not everyone is called to this task, only one who has the confidence of the people, and only when the time is ripe. Proceed in the right way to gladden the people and prevent excesses. Be free of selfish aims, genuinely relieve the need. Only then is there nothing to regret.
The Image
Fire in the lake—combat and destruction. Set the calendar in order, make the seasons clear. In the course of the year, light and darkness battle, creating the revolution of seasons. Master these changes by noting their regularity. Order and clarity appear in apparent chaos; you can adjust in advance to the demands of different times.
「澤中有火，革。」火與水互相衝突，互相消滅。但正是這種衝突，造成季節的更替。象辭說君子「治曆明時」——在混亂中找出規律，標記時間的流轉。變化本身不可怕，怕的是看不清變化的節奏。
The Six Lines
Wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow. Changes should be undertaken only when there is nothing else to be done. Utmost restraint is necessary at first. Become firm in your mind, control yourself, and refrain from doing anything for the time being. Any premature offensive will bring evil results.
When your own day comes, you may create revolution. Starting brings good fortune. No blame. When every other way to bring about reforms has failed, revolution becomes necessary. But such thoroughgoing upheaval must be carefully prepared. A person with the requisite abilities and public confidence is needed. Go out to meet the new condition, preparing for it in advance.
Starting brings misfortune. Persistence brings danger. When talk of revolution has gone the rounds three times, one may commit. And people will believe. Two mistakes to avoid: excessive haste and ruthlessness, or excessive hesitation and conservatism. Not every demand for change should be heeded, but repeated and well-founded complaints should not fail of a hearing.
Remorse disappears. People believe. Changing the form of government brings good fortune. Radical changes require adequate authority—inner strength as well as influential position. What you do must correspond with higher truth, not spring from arbitrary or petty motives. People support only those undertakings they feel instinctively to be just.
The great person changes like a tiger. Even before questioning the oracle, believed. A tiger's stripes are visible from afar. Large, clear guiding lines become understandable to everyone. You don't need to consult the oracle first—you win spontaneous support from the people.
The superior person changes like a panther. The inferior person molts in the face. Starting brings misfortune. Remaining persistent brings good fortune. After the large problems are settled, certain minor reforms remain necessary. Inferior people also 'molt' in conformity with the new order, though this molting doesn't go very deep. Be satisfied with the attainable. If you go too far, trying to achieve too much, unrest and misfortune will result.
Artwork & Treatise
The Death of Marat
Jacques-Louis David, 1793
David paints a martyr's death as political icon. In his 1793 Neoclassical work, journalist Jean-Paul Marat slumps in his medicinal bath, assassinated knife on the floor, letter still clutched in his hand. Charlotte Corday stabbed him three days into the Reign of Terror, transforming personal murder into revolutionary symbol. The composition strips away chaos to reveal stark geometry—white cloth, green bath wrap, wooden crate as writing desk. David memorializes the moment when violence ruptures the old social order.
This is Gé (革), the Chinese hexagram of Revolution. The character originally meant animal hide tanned and processed—skin transformed through fire and treatment into something new. Ancient diviners saw this configuration when Lake (Dui) sits above Fire (Li): water and flame cannot coexist peacefully, yet their conflict drives transformation. Marat's bath literalizes this image—water meant to soothe his diseased skin becomes the site where fire (political fury) extinguishes his life, even as his death ignites revolutionary fervor.
{artwork_reasoning}
The Judgment text speaks to David's painting directly: "Revolution. On your own day you are believed. Supreme success, furthering through perseverance." Marat died July 13, 1793. Within weeks, David had transformed him into revolutionary saint. The painting appeared at the National Convention that autumn, establishing the visual vocabulary for martyrdom that would sustain the Republic. Zhou Dynasty diviners consulted this hexagram during dynastic transitions, when heaven's mandate shifted from exhausted rulers to vigorous successors. The text promises that revolution succeeds not through chaos but through proper timing—when the old form has truly decayed beyond repair.
The Image Text declares: "Fire in the lake: the image of Revolution. Thus the superior man regulates the calendar and clarifies the seasons." After toppling the monarchy, French revolutionaries abolished the Gregorian calendar, replacing saints' days with rational decimal time. David's painting participates in this temporal revolution—Marat becomes not merely dead but eternally dying, frozen in the revolutionary present. In the I-Ching sequence, Revolution follows The Well: after drawing on timeless sources, radical transformation becomes possible. The old skin must be shed completely.
Yilin Verse
馬服長股，宜行善市。蒙祐諧偶，獲金五倍。
Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — Unchanging verse for 革 (Gé)
Character-by-Character Breakdown
Classical Chinese text with pinyin and English meanings