dùnAlso known as “Retreat” (Wilhelm/Baynes) and “Thun” (Legge)
retreatwithdrawalstrategic distance
In plain words
Heaven withdrawing from the mountain: retreat in good time. Yin grows, and the wise step back with dignity — success through retreat, small advantage in persevering.
The attitude it asks for
Withdraw early and gracefully, keeping distance from the petty without hatred; a good retreat preserves what matters.
Structure
Upper trigram☰乾Qian (the Creative)天 · heaven · Metal
Thun indicates successful progress (in its circumstances). To a small extent it will (still) be advantageous to be firm and correct.
Commentary on the Judgment
遯亨，遯而亨也。剛當位而應，與時行也。小利貞，浸而長也。遯之時義大矣哉！
'Thun indicates successful progress:'—that is, in the very retiring which Thun denotes there is such progress. The strong (line) is in the ruling place, (the fifth), and is properly responded to (by the second line). The action takes place according to (the requirement of) the time.
'To a small extent it will (still) be advantageous to be firm and correct:'—(the small men) are gradually encroaching and advancing.
Great indeed is the significance of (what is required to be done in) the time that necessitates retiring.
The Image
天下有山，遯；君子以遠小人，不惡而嚴。
(The trigram representing) the sky and below it that for a mountain form Thun. The superior man, in accordance with this, keeps small men at a distance, not by showing that he hates them, but by his own dignified gravity.
爻辭 The six lines
When one line moves, the hexagram becomes another:
上九Nine at the top
肥遯，无不利。
The sixth line, undivided, shows its subject retiring in a noble way. It will be advantageous in every respect.
Its symbolism
肥遯，无不利；无所疑也。
'He retires in a noble way, and his doing so will be advantageous in every respect:'—he who does so has no doubts about his course.
The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject retiring notwithstanding his likings. In a superior man this will lead to good fortune; a small man cannot attain to this.
Its symbolism
君子好遯，小人否也。
'A superior man retires notwithstanding his likings; a small man cannot attain to this.'
The third line, undivided, shows one retiring but bound,—to his distress and peril. (If he were to deal with his binders as in) nourishing a servant or concubine, it would be fortunate for him.
Its symbolism
係遯之厲，有疾憊也。畜臣妾吉，不可大事也。
'The peril connected with the case of one retiring, though bound,' is due to the (consequent) distress and exhaustion. 'If he were (to deal as in) nourishing a servant or concubine, it would be fortunate for him:'—but a great affair cannot be dealt with in this way.
Shown in the classical Chinese with James Legge's English (1882).
Questions about this hexagram
What does Hexagram 33, Withdrawal, mean?
Heaven withdrawing from the mountain: retreat in good time. Yin grows, and the wise step back with dignity — success through retreat, small advantage in persevering.
Which trigrams form Withdrawal?
乾 above 艮 — heaven over mountain. Its nuclear hexagram (lines 2–5) is 姤 Encounter.
What happens when a line of Withdrawal changes?
A moving line turns the hexagram into another one; the list above shows all six. With several moving lines, the guide to changing lines explains which text to read.
How do I get Withdrawal in a reading?
Build six lines from the bottom up with three coins or yarrow stalks; the pattern - - - - — — — — is Withdrawal. You can also cast a reading here — the lines are decided by code, the text is this page's.