Hexagram 51: Zhen

Thunder over Thunder · 震为雷 · Tendency: Inauspicious

Structure

• Number: 51 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷲
• Upper trigram: Zhen (Thunder)
• Lower trigram: Zhen (Thunder)
• Lines: yang yin yin yang yin yin (bottom to top)

The statement

亨。震来虩虩，笑言哑哑，震惊百里，不丧匕鬯。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

This hexagram indicates sudden shocks, news impacts, or changes in the situation. First, stay calm and do not be carried away by the initial reaction. It is suitable for vigilance, review, and quickly restoring order. The shock itself may not necessarily be bad; losing composure is what leads to mistakes.

A Buddhist reading

Zhen (Thunder) shocks but must not scatter. Zhixu maps the hexagram onto contemplation of mind: the first stir of a thought is examined for how it arises and how it passes, which is the wary alertness of the opening line; seeing that the thought has no nature and no birth is the calm laughter that follows; afflictions and disturbances breaking out are the thunder heard for a hundred miles, and not losing meditative calm and insight is keeping hold of the sacrificial ladle. The image of fear and self examination, he says, points to daily watchfulness when unseen and unheard, so that when shock comes there is no alarm.

After Ouyi Zhixu (1599-1655), whose Chan commentary on the Changes reads each hexagram as a stage of practice.

The statement is quoted from the Book of Changes, which is in the public domain. The English reading on this page was prepared for this library.

Related hexagrams

• Previous: Hexagram 50: Ding
• Next / Inverted: Hexagram 52: Genthe whole figure turned upside down
• Opposite: Hexagram 57: Xunevery line changed to its opposite
• Nuclear: Hexagram 39: Jianlines two to four below, three to five above

Related

• Liu Yao Divination ChartLiu Yao casts a hexagram about one specific matter and reads its structure. Unlike BaZi or Zi Wei, which describe a person, Liu Yao describes how a situation stands at a particular moment. This page walks through the full process from casting to attribution.
• Mei Hua Yi Shu CalculatorMei Hua Yi Shu is traditionally attributed to Shao Yong. What sets it apart is how freely it casts: a time, a spoken number, a direction or something noticed in passing will all serve. It attaches no stems and no relatives, reading the trigrams directly. This page covers casting through to the subject and object.