Hexagram 51: The Arousing
Zhen · 震
The Judgment
Success. Shock comes—oh, oh! Laughing words—ha, ha! The shock terrifies for a hundred miles, and he does not let fall the sacrificial spoon and chalice. When you have learned within your heart what fear and trembling mean, you are safeguarded against any terror produced by outside influences. Let thunder roll and spread terror a hundred miles around: remain so composed and reverent in spirit that the ritual is not interrupted. Profound inner seriousness from which all outer terrors glance off harmlessly.
The Image
Thunder repeated. In fear and trembling, set your life in order and examine yourself. The superior person is always filled with reverence; sets their life in order and searches their heart, lest it harbor any secret opposition to the way of heaven. Reverence is the foundation of true culture.
「洊雷，震。」雷聲重複。象辭說君子「恐懼修省」——因為恐懼而整頓生活，檢查自己的心。看看裡面有沒有什麼在暗中違逆。敬畏，好像是文明的基礎。但這種敬畏不是對外界的害怕，而是對自己的誠實。
The Six Lines
Shock comes—oh, oh! Then follow laughing words—ha, ha! Good fortune. Fear and trembling come at first in such a way that you see yourself at a disadvantage. But this is transitory. When the ordeal is over, you experience relief. The very terror you had to endure at the outset brings good fortune in the long run.
Shock comes bringing danger. A hundred thousand times you lose your treasures and must climb the nine hills. Do not go in pursuit of them. After seven days you will get them back. Shock endangers you and causes great losses. Resistance would be contrary to the movement of the time and therefore unsuccessful. Simply retreat to heights inaccessible to threatening forces. Accept loss of property without worrying too much—when shock passes, you will get them back without pursuit.
Shock comes and makes one distraught. If shock spurs to action, one remains free of misfortune. Three kinds of shock: heaven's thunder, fate's blows, the shock of the heart. In times of shock, presence of mind is all too easily lost; one overlooks opportunities and mutely lets fate take its course. But if you allow the shocks to induce movement within your mind, you will overcome external blows with little effort.
Shock is mired. Movement within the mind depends partly on circumstances. If there is neither resistance to combat vigorously nor yielding that permits victory—if instead everything is tough and inert like mire—movement is crippled.
Shock goes hither and thither. Danger. However, nothing at all is lost. Yet there are things to be done. Not a single shock but repeated shocks with no breathing space between. Nonetheless, the shock causes no loss because you take care to stay in the center of movement and are spared the fate of being helplessly tossed about.
Shock brings ruin and terrified gazing around. Going ahead brings misfortune. If it has not yet touched your own body but has reached your neighbor first, there is no blame. Your comrades have something to talk about. When inner shock is at its height, it robs you of reflection and clarity of vision. Keep still until composure and clarity are restored. This you can do only when you yourself are not yet infected by the agitation, though its disastrous effects are visible in those around you.
Artwork & Treatise
The Ninth Wave
Ivan Aivazovsky, 1850
Shipwreck survivors cling to a makeshift raft as a massive wave towers above them at dawn. Russian-Armenian painter Ivan Aivazovsky depicts the moment before impact in his 1850 work. Maritime folklore called the ninth wave the most dangerous in any storm sequence—the culmination of building swells that could shatter vessels or hurl sailors into the deep. The painting captures bodies gripping broken masts as golden sunrise illuminates the approaching wall of water. They have survived the night's fury only to face this final test.
This is Zhèn (震), the Chinese hexagram of The Arousing. The character combines the rain radical with elements suggesting trembling and shock—thunderclap that startles all living things into sudden awareness. Ancient diviners saw this configuration when Thunder (Zhèn) doubles upon itself: shock above, shock below, repeated jolts testing composure. Aivazovsky's ninth wave embodies this principle—the sailors have weathered eight previous crests, yet each new surge demands renewed response. The arousing force doesn't destroy through single impact but through succession that wears down resistance.
{artwork_reasoning}
The Judgment states: "Shock brings success. Shock comes—oh, oh! Laughing words—ha, ha! The shock terrifies for a hundred miles, and he does not let fall the sacrificial spoon and chalice." The ancient text describes a ritual master maintaining composure during thunder, continuing the ceremony without spilling offerings. Aivazovsky's survivors demonstrate this principle in extremis—they grip their raft with the same careful attention the sage applies to sacred vessels. Success comes not from avoiding the shock but from remaining centered through repeated trials. Zhou Dynasty practitioners understood this hexagram appeared when testing moments arrived that could either awaken or shatter.
The Image Text declares: "Thunder repeated: the image of Shock. Thus in fear and trembling the superior man sets his life in order and examines himself." The doubled trigram creates escalating intensity—first shock provokes reaction, second shock reveals character. Aivazovsky painted this in 1850, as European revolutions of 1848 sent successive political shocks across empires. The wave will break. The raft may hold or splinter. What matters is how one grips the timber when water thunders down from above.
Yilin Verse
枯瓠不朽，利以濟舟。渡踰河海，无有溺憂。
Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — Unchanging verse for 震 (Zhèn)
Character-by-Character Breakdown
Classical Chinese text with pinyin and English meanings