Zhen · The Arousing

The meaning

What the name means Zhen is thunder, a shock.

The picture Thunder on thunder, one clap after another, the shaking never stopping.

The sense of the whole The whole hexagram is about being startled. When something suddenly shocks you, do not panic; once the shock has passed, look at yourself, and do what you were going to do, and you will be steadier for it.

In plain words: what this hexagram says

A clap of thunder, a start. After the fright you are clearer than before. Do not panic; keep your own place.

The upper trigram is Thunder and the lower is Thunder: Thunder above, Thunder below. When you read it, first picture the two together as a scene, then set it against the original below. The plain words speak only of stance and do not foretell.

The judgement

亨。震來虩虩，笑言啞啞。震驚百里，不喪匕鬯。

The image

洊雷，震；君子以恐懼修省。

The six lines

From the bottom up, the first line is the lowest. When you cast this hexagram and a line is changing, read the matching one. The original is classical Chinese.

1. 初九震來虩虩，後笑言啞啞，吉。
2. 六二震來厲，億喪貝，躋於九陵，勿逐，七日得。
3. 六三震蘇蘇，震行無眚。
4. 九四震遂泥。
5. 六五震往來厲，億無喪，有事。
6. 上六震索索，視矍矍，徵兇。震不於其躬，於其鄰，無咎。婚媾有言。

To learn how to read a hexagram, see "How to read a hexagram"; for changing lines, see "Changing lines and the resulting hexagram".