I Ching hexagram 49
Hexagram 49: Ge
Revolution · 澤火革 · Lake above, Fire below
A fundamental change takes hold only when the time is ripe and people trust the reasons for it.
What this hexagram is about
Fire sits inside a lake in Ge (Revolution), two things that cannot share one space and must change each other. An old arrangement is worn out, and the change holds only if the timing is right and people have been brought along.
A way to think about it
Is the change you are weighing ripe yet? Ask who would need to hear the reasons more than once before they trust them.
The text, with Legge's translation
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.
People believe in a change only once its time has come. After that the judgment names great progress and says regret fades, and it pays to stay steady and correct.
Image
澤中有火，革；君子以治歷明時。
(The trigram representing the waters of) a marsh and that for fire in the midst of them form Ko. The superior man, in accordance with this, regulates his (astronomical) calculations, and makes clear the seasons and times.
Line 1 · 初九
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.
You are bound with the hide of a yellow ox, tough and hard to break. It is too early for change, so hold firm and keep still.
Line 2 · 六二
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.
Once the right day has come, you make the change. Moving ahead is well timed at this point, and the line finds nothing wrong.
Line 3 · 九三
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.
Pressing ahead brings trouble, and even staying correct is risky. Once the call for change has been talked through three times, people can trust it.
Line 4 · 九四
悔亡，有孚改命，吉。
The fourth line, undivided, shows occasion for repentance disappearing (from its subject). Let him be believed in; and though he change (existing) ordinances, there will be good fortune.
Your regret has cleared. With trust behind you, you can change the existing order, and the omen is good.
Line 5 · 九五
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.
A person of stature changes the way a tiger does, boldly and in plain sight. People trust it before any oracle is asked.
Line 6 · 上六
君子豹變，小人革面，征凶，居貞吉。
The sixth line, divided, shows the superior man producing his changes as the leopard (does when he) changes (his spots), while small men change their faces (and show their obedience). To go forward (now) would lead to evil, but there will be good fortune in abiding firm and correct.
A capable person changes like a leopard, in finer patterns, while smaller people only change their outward look. Pushing on now brings trouble, and staying settled and correct is the better course.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi, public domain. English: James Legge, The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 16 (1882), public domain. Plain notes written by this site.
Questions
I cast hexagram 49. Which text do I read?
With no changing lines, read the judgment: "(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." With changing lines, read the lines that changed. When several change at once, Zhu Xi's rules decide which text leads, and the casting page marks it for you.
What are the nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams of Ge?
The nuclear hexagram is 44. Gou (Sudden Encounter). The opposite is 4. Meng (Clouded Sight). The inverted hexagram is 50. Ding (The Cauldron).