Hexagram 53, line 2
六二Line 2 of Gradual Advance
Six in the second place · 漸 jiàn
爻辭 The line text
鴻漸于磐，飲食衎衎，吉。The second line, divided, shows the geese gradually approaching the large rocks, where they eat and drink joyfully and at ease. There will be good fortune.
飲食衎衎，不素飽也。'They eat and drink joyfully and at ease:'—but not without having earned their food.
In plain words
The goose comes to the great rock, firm footing above the waterline, and 'eats and drinks at ease — auspicious'. Line two is yin, central and in its correct place, and it corresponds to the strong ruler at five: the one station in the lower trigram with solid ground and solid backing. The ease is deserved: the small Image says 不素飽也, it does not eat for nothing, the contentment is the reward of having advanced in the proper order. Cheng Yi reads 衎衎 as the harmony of a line that has found its place and is nourished by the one it serves.
If this line is changing
You have reached firm ground and the support you need is real; enjoy the ease you have earned and do not hurry off the rock to the next stage before it is time.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 艮 Gen (Keeping Still) (mountain).
- It corresponds (應) with line 5: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
漸 Gradual Advance becomes ䷸ 57 巽 Yielding (Wind)
Wind upon wind: the gentle that penetrates everywhere. Small success; favourable to have somewhere to go and to see the great man — persistent gentle influence rather than force.
What it becomes57 · 巽 Yielding (Wind)xùnThe six lines of 漸 Gradual Advance
- 初六Six at the beginningthe shore · the young one · talked about
- 六二Six in the second placethe rock · eating at ease · earned
- 九三Nine in the third placedry land · going and not returning · defend together
- 六四Six in the fourth placethe tree · a flat branch · yielding
- 九五Nine in the fifth placethe hill · three years · what is wished
- 上九Nine at the topthe heights · feathers for ceremony · unconfused
Read 漸 Gradual Advance for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the second place of hexagram 53, Gradual Advance, mean?
- The goose comes to the great rock, firm footing above the waterline, and 'eats and drinks at ease — auspicious'. Line two is yin, central and in its correct place, and it corresponds to the strong ruler at five: the one station in the lower trigram with solid ground and solid backing. The ease is deserved: the small Image says 不素飽也, it does not eat for nothing, the contentment is the reward of having advanced in the proper order. Cheng Yi reads 衎衎 as the harmony of a line that has found its place and is nourished by the one it serves.
- What does hexagram 53 become when line 2 changes?
- Gradual Advance becomes hexagram 57, 巽 Yielding (Wind): Wind upon wind: the gentle that penetrates everywhere. Small success; favourable to have somewhere to go and to see the great man — persistent gentle influence rather than force.
- Is line 2 of Gradual Advance in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).