The Arousing Thunder
The Repeated Shock
Shock breaks inertia and restores reverence; whoever keeps hold of the vessel keeps his standing.
Zhen, the Arousing, Thunder, stands over itself. This is one of the eight hexagrams that double a single trigram, which is why the title names the element. In each half a firm line forces its way up beneath two yielding lines, the image of thunder breaking out of the earth, and Zhen is the eldest son. The Judgement says the shock terrifies for a hundred miles, yet the man holding the sacrificial spoon and chalice does not let them fall. The Image has the superior man set his life in order and examine himself in fear and trembling, and in the Shuo Gua the trigram belongs to the east and to spring, where all things begin to stir.
Light
Shock brings success. A salutary terror breaks inertia, restores reverence and drives self-examination, and whoever keeps hold of the sacred vessel keeps his standing.
Shadow
Shock that finds a man unready: panic, treasures lost a hundred thousand times over, and terrified gazing about. Agitation without inner steadiness ends in ruin.
