Hexagram 51: The Arousing

Hexagram 51, The Arousing (Zhèn, 震), is formed of the upper trigram Thunder (震) over the lower trigram Thunder (震). Below is the classical judgment, the six line texts, and how to read this hexagram in a reading.

The Judgment

Trigrams

The outer (upper) trigram Thunder describes the situation as it meets the world; the inner (lower) trigram Thunder describes its inner disposition. Together they set the theme of The Arousing.

The Six Lines

• 初九 · Line 1 Thunder and terror first, laughter after. Good fortune.震来虩虩，后笑言哑哑，吉。
• 六二 · Line 2 Thunder brings peril; treasures are lost. Do not chase — in seven days, recovery.震来厉，亿丧贝，跻于九陵，勿逐，七日得。
• 六三 · Line 3 Shaken and unsettled — yet moving on under the shock avoids calamity.震苏苏，震行无眚。
• 九四 · Line 4 The shock bogs down in mud.震遂泥。
• 六五 · Line 5 Shock going and coming — danger; yet nothing essential is lost. There is work to do.震往来，厉；亿无丧，有事。
• 上六 · Line 6 Trembling, with darting eyes: advancing bodes ill. While the shock strikes the neighbor, not oneself — no blame.震索索，视矍矍，征凶。震不于其躬，于其邻，无咎。婚媾有言。

Reading Hexagram 51 for Your Question

When The Arousing appears without changing lines, the judgment above stands as the whole answer. When you cast changing lines (a 6 or a 9), read those line texts first — they are the most specific guidance — then look to the relating hexagram they form for where the situation is heading. For love, career, or a decision, apply the theme of The Arousing to your own circumstances rather than reading it as a fixed prediction.