Overview
Revolution — 泽火革 (Ge) — radical change.
The Hexagram
- Upper Trigram: Dui Lake
- Lower Trigram: Li Fire
- Chinese Name: 泽火革 (Ge)
- English Name: Revolution
- Key Meanings: Radical change. Fire in the lake — transformation, the snake shedding skin.
The Judgment (Guà Cí)
Revolution. On your own day you are believed. Supreme success, furthering through perseverance. Remorse disappears.
The Image (Xiàng Cí)
Fire in the lake: the image of Revolution. Thus the superior man sets the calendar in order and makes the seasons clear.
Symbolism Deep Dive
Lake over Fire. Lake (Dui, water, the old order) above; Fire (Li, heat, transformation) below. Water and fire together produce steam — the old form is dissolved, a new form emerges. Revolution (革, literally ’leather’ or ‘molting,’ as a snake sheds skin) is the most radical hexagram of change. It is not gradual evolution (Sheng, 46) or recovery (Fu, 24) but fundamental transformation. ‘On your own day you are believed’ — revolution succeeds when its timing aligns with natural cycles. The superior man ‘sets the calendar in order’ — revolution requires a new temporal framework.
Modern Application
Ge addresses moments when incremental change is insufficient. The business model that must be abandoned. The career that must be pivoted. The identity that must be shed. The hexagram’s core insight: successful revolution aligns with timing. ‘On your own day’ — there is a right moment. Before that moment, revolution is rebellion. After that moment, revolution is overdue collapse. Practical application: when considering a major change, ask whether the season is right. The snake molts when the old skin constrains; it does not molt for fashion. The calendar must be set in order — new rhythms must replace old ones.
Key Themes
- Each theme here extracted from the hexagram’s core teaching
“The I Ching Decoded” video series — Day 53.