Hexagram 57 · 巽 · Xùn
The Gentle
- Element:
- Wind over Wind
- Key themes:
- flexibility, adaptability, penetration, subtle influence, patience
Image
Wind, symbolizing gentle but persistent influence and adaptability.
Overall message
Hexagram 57 symbolizes gentle but persistent influence. It encourages flexibility, adaptability, and subtlety in achieving goals. Success comes from patience and avoiding forceful actions.
Use subtle and persistent influence to achieve your goals. Be flexible and adaptable, and avoid forceful actions.
Classical text (Legge, 1882)
Judgment. Sun intimates that (under the conditions which it denotes) there will be some little attainment and progress. There will be advantage in movement onward in whatever direction. It will be advantageous (also) to see the great man.
Image. (Two trigrams representing) wind, following each other, form Sun. The superior man, in accordance with this, reiterates his orders, and secures the practice of his affairs.
From James Legge's translation of the I Ching (Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI, 1882). Public domain.
The six lines
Line 6 · Completion of Influence
The gentle influence has achieved its goal.
Reflect on the success and prepare for the next phase.
Line 5 · Leading with Gentleness
You are in a position to lead with gentle but effective influence.
Use your influence wisely and with humility.
Line 4 · Deepening Influence
The influence deepens and begins to create lasting change.
Focus on creating a strong foundation for the influence.
Line 3 · Overcoming Resistance
Resistance arises, but it can be overcome with patience.
Stay flexible and adapt to the situation.
Line 2 · Gaining Momentum
The influence gains momentum, but it remains gentle.
Continue to act with subtlety and persistence.
Line 1 · Beginning of Influence
The gentle influence begins to take effect, but it is subtle.
Be patient and allow the influence to grow gradually.
Related hexagrams
Opposite: If every line of this hexagram were inverted (yang to yin and vice versa), you would have Hexagram 51 · 震 · Zhèn. This is the hexagram's structural counterpart — the situation it could become if every dynamic flipped.
Nuclear: The hexagram hidden inside this one, built from lines 2-3-4 and 3-4-5, is Hexagram 38 · 睽 · Kuí. The nuclear hexagram describes the inner pattern that produced this situation — what is going on underneath.
If only one line of this hexagram changed in your cast, you would arrive at:
- Line 1 changing → Hexagram 9 · 小畜 · Xiǎo Chù
- Line 2 changing → Hexagram 53 · 渐 · Jiàn
- Line 3 changing → Hexagram 59 · 涣 · Huàn
- Line 4 changing → Hexagram 44 · 姤 · Gòu
- Line 5 changing → Hexagram 18 · 蛊 · Gǔ
- Line 6 changing → Hexagram 48 · 井 · Jǐng