Hexagram 53 for love
Hexagram 53 Gradual Advance in love and relationships
Jian is a tree growing on a mountain: slow, rooted, taking its time to reach height. The judgment is 'a woman marrying — auspicious; favourable to be firm', and the received tradition reads the whole hexagram as the proper sequence of a courtship, each step taken in order and consolidated before the next. The six lines follow a wild goose from the shore to the sky; geese pair for life, which is why they were the betrothal gift.
The lines mark the stages. One is the newcomer who is talked about; two has found firm ground and real support. Three is the warning line, a bond made out of order with whoever is nearest. Four is a stage that does not suit you, survived by finding the one flat branch. Five is the proper match delayed by what lies between and reached in the end. Six is the completed bond that has become an example. A changing line in the lower trigram is early days; one in the upper trigram asks for patience with a delay that is not a refusal.
The hexagram in brief
A tree on the mountain: gradual growth. The wild goose advances stage by stage — shore, rock, dry land, tree, hill, the heights — good fortune for a marriage, success through correctness.
Advance in order, each step consolidated before the next; slow and proper beats fast and shaky.
The judgment
漸：女歸吉，利貞。Kien suggests to us the marriage of a young lady, and the good fortune (attending it). There will be advantage in being firm and correct.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 漸 Gradual Advance has its own page:
- 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
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Is hexagram 53, Gradual Advance, a good sign for love?
- Jian is a tree growing on a mountain: slow, rooted, taking its time to reach height. The judgment is 'a woman marrying — auspicious; favourable to be firm', and the received tradition reads the whole hexagram as the proper sequence of a courtship, each step taken in order and consolidated before the next. The six lines follow a wild goose from the shore to the sky; geese pair for life, which is why they were the betrothal gift.
- What does Hexagram 53, 漸 Gradual Advance, mean?
- A tree on the mountain: gradual growth. The wild goose advances stage by stage — shore, rock, dry land, tree, hill, the heights — good fortune for a marriage, success through correctness.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).