易I Ching Notes
57

巽

Xùn · The Gentle

What is gentle and repeated gets into places force cannot.

Read the judgment

Six lines, read from the bottom up.

Upper 巽 Wind · Lower 巽 Wind Tap a line to read it

The judgment

巽:小亨,利攸往,利見大人。

The gentle. Small success. It is favorable to go somewhere and to see a great person: penetration works through persistence, not force.

Received text; plain English after the Chinese. Source: 周易經傳 (public-domain). Passage: hex57.judgment.

The image

象曰:隨風,巽。君子以申命行事。

Wind following wind: the gentle. A capable person repeats the order and then acts: clarity before command.

Received text; plain English after the Chinese. Source: 周易經傳 (public-domain). Passage: hex57.image.

What is gentle and repeated gets into places force cannot.

The six lines

Each line is a stage, from the bottom of the hexagram to the top. Open any line to read it in plain English.

初六 進退,利武人之貞。 Advancing and retreating. It is favorable for a warrior to stay true: hesitation needs a firm hand on the self.

Advancing and retreating. It is favorable for a warrior to stay true: hesitation needs a firm hand on the self.

九二 巽在床下,用史巫紛若,吉無咎。 Penetrating under the bed; the priests and shamans are busy. Good fortune, no blame: go deep and use every channel.

Penetrating under the bed; the priests and shamans are busy. Good fortune, no blame: go deep and use every channel.

九三 頻巽,吝。 Repeated gentle pushing. Regret: too many soft attempts start to look like nagging.

Repeated gentle pushing. Regret: too many soft attempts start to look like nagging.

六四 悔亡,田獲三品。 Regret disappears. Hunting brings three kinds of game: the work yields more than one result.

Regret disappears. Hunting brings three kinds of game: the work yields more than one result.

九五 貞吉悔亡,無不利。 無初有終,先庚三日,後庚三日,吉。 Stay true, regret disappears, nothing unfavorable. No good beginning but a good end: three days before the change and three days after, good fortune.

Stay true, regret disappears, nothing unfavorable. No good beginning but a good end: three days before the change and three days after, good fortune.

上九 巽在床下,喪其資斧,貞凶。 Penetrating under the bed, losing the means to act. Even staying true is bad: you went too deep and lost your tools.

Penetrating under the bed, losing the means to act. Even staying true is bad: you went too deep and lost your tools.

Cast six lines

Hold one question in mind. Throw three coins, six times, from the bottom line up.