Line 6 of
Hexagram 49: 革
“Skinning” — King Wen #49 · 上六
Line 6 上六
君子豹變，小人革面；征凶，居貞吉。
The sixth SIX, 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.
— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1882 (public domain)
The Changed Hexagram 之卦
Line 6 changing turns hexagram 49 into䷌ Hexagram 13: 同人 — “Concording People”Read line 6 of hexagram 13 →Reading This Line
In the received Zhouyi text, line 6 of hexagram 49 is a yielding (yin) line occupying the top line, where the theme of the figure has run its course. The classical line statement — 君子豹變，小人革面；征凶，居貞吉。 — is what commentators from the Ten Wings onward have read as the figure's own commentary on this one position. James Legge's 1882 rendering, quoted above, keeps the imagery of the original: each line of a hexagram is read as a stage of the same picture, and this page collects the source text for that stage. If you treat the line as moving in the traditional way, flipping it alone produces the changed hexagram linked above; readers have long used that pair of figures to compare a situation as given with the same situation one line different. As always with classical divination texts, this is presented for cultural and reference interest — the text itself carries no prediction about any modern reader's situation.
Questions About Hexagram 49 Line 6
What does line 6 of hexagram 49 say?
The received text reads: 君子豹變，小人革面；征凶，居貞吉。 In James Legge's 1882 translation: “The sixth SIX, 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.”
Which hexagram does line 6 change hexagram 49 into?
Changing only line 6 of hexagram 49 (革, “Skinning”) gives hexagram 13 — 同人 (tóng rén, “Concording People”). This is the classical way a changed hexagram is derived from moving lines.
Are line pages available for every hexagram?
Yes. Every one of the 64 hexagrams now has six line pages — one per line from the bottom line up to the top line — each with the classical Chinese text, Legge's 1882 translation, and the changed hexagram that line produces when it moves.
1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1882), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and reference — not financial, medical, or life advice.