Hexagram 57, line 1
初六Line 1 of Yielding (Wind)
Six at the beginning · 巽 xùn
爻辭 The line text
進退，利武人之貞。The first line, divided, shows its subject (now) advancing, (now) receding. It would be advantageous for him to have the firm correctness of a brave soldier.
進退，志疑也。利武人之貞，志治也。'(Now) he advances, (now) he recedes:'—his mind is perplexed. 'It would be advantageous for him to have the firmness of a brave soldier:'—his mind would in that case be well governed.
In plain words
The first line is the one yin at the bottom of the lower trigram, the wind's own weak place beneath two strong lines, and it pictures someone 'advancing, then retreating'. Yielding has gone too far at the very start: the line is so pliant that it cannot settle on a direction. The text prescribes the opposite quality, 'the steadiness of a soldier is favourable' — not aggression, but a firm resolve that ends the dithering. The small Image names the fault and the cure in a pair: advance and retreat come from a doubting will (志疑), the soldier's steadiness from a will put in order (志治).
If this line is changing
If you keep edging forward and pulling back, the problem is not the situation but your unsettled will; decide once, as a soldier would, and hold to it.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 巽 Xun (the Gentle) (wind).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 4: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
巽 Yielding (Wind) becomes ䷈ 9 小畜 Small Accumulation
Wind over heaven: dense clouds but no rain yet. A small force restrains a great one for now; gather strength quietly, with success in small things.
What it becomes9 · 小畜 Small Accumulationxiǎo chùThe six lines of 巽 Yielding (Wind)
- 初六Six at the beginningwavering · advance and retreat · soldier's resolve
- 九二Nine in the second placebeneath the bed · humble sincerity · centred
- 九三Nine in the third placeforced compliance · repeated yielding · exhausted will
- 六四Six in the fourth placeregret vanishes · threefold catch · merit
- 九五Nine in the fifth placethe ruler's command · three days before and after · good end
- 上九Nine at the topyielding exhausted · lost axe · no decision left
Read 巽 Yielding (Wind) for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six at the beginning of hexagram 57, Yielding (Wind), mean?
- The first line is the one yin at the bottom of the lower trigram, the wind's own weak place beneath two strong lines, and it pictures someone 'advancing, then retreating'. Yielding has gone too far at the very start: the line is so pliant that it cannot settle on a direction. The text prescribes the opposite quality, 'the steadiness of a soldier is favourable' — not aggression, but a firm resolve that ends the dithering. The small Image names the fault and the cure in a pair: advance and retreat come from a doubting will (志疑), the soldier's steadiness from a will put in order (志治).
- What does hexagram 57 become when line 1 changes?
- Yielding (Wind) becomes hexagram 9, 小畜 Small Accumulation: Wind over heaven: dense clouds but no rain yet. A small force restrains a great one for now; gather strength quietly, with success in small things.
- Is line 1 of Yielding (Wind) in its correct place?
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).