易玄机

The 64 hexagrams / Hexagram 57

The Gentle

Hexagram 57 · 巽 Xùn

Wind above · Wind below
巽 palace · 本宫

What hexagram 57 says

Wind following wind, entering everywhere. Soft, repeated pressure changes things that force cannot. Reiterate, then execute.

STRUCTURE
A figure built from Wind (penetrating, gentle, persistent) below and Wind (penetrating, gentle, persistent) above.
Below: Wind (Xun) — penetrating, gentle, persistent.
Above: Wind (Xun) — penetrating, gentle, persistent.
penetrationpersistencegentle power

The six lines

Read from the bottom up. The first line is the beginning of the situation, the sixth is its outer edge. The Chinese text is the classical line text; the line below it is a reading of what it is pointing at.

First (bottom)
yin — broken
进退,利武人之贞。
Second
yang — solid
巽在床下,用史巫纷若,吉无咎。
Third
yang — solid
频巽,吝。
Fourth
yin — broken
悔亡,田获三品。
Fifth
yang — solid
贞吉悔亡,无不利,无初有终。
Top
yang — solid
巽在床下,丧其资斧,贞凶。

How to use this hexagram

If you cast this as your primary hexagram, it describes the situation you are in. If it came up as the transformed hexagram, it describes where things are heading once the changing lines have flipped. If you are only looking it up, read the judgment first — the line texts are for specific moments inside the situation, not for the situation as a whole.

Frequently asked

What does I Ching hexagram 57 mean?

Hexagram 57, The Gentle, is made of Wind above and Wind below. Wind following wind, entering everywhere. Soft, repeated pressure changes things that force cannot. Reiterate, then execute.

How do I read hexagram 57 in a casting?

Read the primary hexagram first — it describes the situation as it stands. If any of your six lines were changing lines (sixes or nines from the coin tosses), read those lines' texts next: they mark where the situation is moving. The hexagram produced after those lines flip is the transformed hexagram, and it shows where the movement leads.

What are the six lines of hexagram 57?

Hexagram 57 has six lines, read from the bottom up. The texts below are given in order, first line (bottom) to sixth line (top).

Which palace does hexagram 57 belong to?

In the six-line (liuyao) system, hexagram 57 sits in the 巽 palace, the ruling hexagram of its palace. The palace gives the hexagram its ruling element, and from that element the Six Relatives are assigned to each line.