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Hexagram 51: Zhen (震) — The Arousing
Hexagram 51, Zhen (震) — the Arousing, is the fifty-first figure of the I Ching, composed of Thunder over Thunder; the ancients read it as the shock that wakes a person to himself.
Meaning
Zhen is the hexagram of the double shock. Thunder rolls over thunder, and the old readers saw the repeated blow that jolts a person out of complacency — the figure of the eldest son, of the sudden event that breaks the smooth surface of things. The judgment is vivid: the shock comes — oh, oh! and then laughing words — ha, ha! The teaching is that shock, met rightly, passes from terror into release. The first crack of fear, honestly received, is what clears the way to calm.
Read against the working life, the figure is about the disruption that tests and teaches. The second line is the hardest in the book: the shock brings danger, a hundred thousand times one loses one's treasures and must climb the nine hills — do not seek them, for what is lost comes back after seven days. The commentators read it as the whole counsel for a great loss: do not cling to what the shock has scattered. What is truly one's own returns in its own time; the one who refuses to let go loses himself chasing it.
For a person facing sudden trouble, Zhen was read as the fear that precedes courage. The sixth line — if the shock has not yet touched one's own body but has reached one's neighbour first, there is no blame — was the ancients' picture of learning from the troubles of others. The wise person, seeing the blow fall nearby, examines himself before it strikes home. Shock, in this reading, is not a punishment but a call to attention, and the attentive meet it standing.
Within a cycle, this figure marks a phase of awakening, the stretch when the smooth course is broken and the person is shaken into clear sight. The image of thunder over thunder is the book's picture of a blow that comes twice, not to destroy but to rouse. The counsel is to meet the shock without panic, to let the first terror pass into steadiness, and to use the jolt to see plainly what the calm had hidden.
The Judgment
“The Arousing. Success. The shock comes — oh, oh! Laughing words — ha, ha! The shock terrifies for a hundred miles.”
The Six Lines of the Arousing
Line 1The shock comes — oh, oh! Then follow laughing words — ha, ha! Good fortune.
Line 2The shock comes bringing danger. A hundred thousand times you lose your treasures and must climb the nine hills. Do not seek them. After seven days you will get them back.
Line 3The shock comes and makes one distraught. If the shock spurs to action, one remains free of misfortune.
Line 4The shock is mired.
Line 5The shock goes hither and thither. Danger. However, nothing at all is lost. Yet there are things to be done.
Line 6The shock brings ruin and terrified gazing around. Going ahead brings misfortune. If the shock has not yet touched one's own body but has reached one's neighbor first, there is no blame.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which trigrams form Hexagram 51?
Zhen (震) doubles the Thunder trigram (Zhen, 震) above itself. Thunder rolling over thunder was the ancients' image of the repeated blow that jolts a person out of complacency — the visual root of the meaning of the arousing.
What does the judgment of Hexagram 51 say?
It reads: 'The Arousing. Success. The shock comes — oh, oh! Laughing words — ha, ha!' The old commentaries explain that shock, met rightly, passes from terror into release — the first crack of fear, honestly received, is what clears the way to calm.
What is the point of losing one's treasures a hundred thousand times?
The second line, 'A hundred thousand times you lose your treasures and must climb the nine hills. Do not seek them,' was read as the counsel for great loss. The commentators saw in it the teaching that what is truly one's own returns in time — and the one who clings to what the shock has scattered loses himself in the chasing.
Related
Source: Judgment and line texts follow the Wilhelm/Baynes rendering of the Yijing.
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