I-Ching Hexagram 57
巽 The Gentle
Also known as Wind / Penetration
Wind upon wind — slow, ceaseless penetration. The figure favours the gradual, repeated influence rather than the dramatic stroke.
gentle · penetrating · wind
The Story
A wind blew through a canyon for a thousand years. It carried no weapons; it made no proclamations; it did not hurry. Year after year it touched the same rocks. The rocks, at first, did not seem to notice. But travelers who came through the canyon in the tenth century saw shapes in the stone — dragons, faces, pillars — that had not been there before. "How was this done?" they asked the villagers. "By the wind," they were told. "By nothing but the wind, which did not stop." The gentle force, persistent, carves what the hammer cannot.
The Judgment
Success through what is small. It furthers one to have somewhere to go. It furthers one to see the great person.
The Image
Winds following one upon the other: the image of the gently penetrating. Thus the superior person spreads their commands abroad and carries out their undertakings.
Interpretation
Wind upon wind — slow, ceaseless penetration. The figure favours the gradual, repeated influence rather than the dramatic stroke. Success comes in small, sustained increments; consult the wise; spread your intent through quiet, consistent pressure.
Trigrams
The Six Lines
- First (Bottom) In advancing and in retreating, the perseverance of a warrior furthers. Disciplined advance and retreat, both.
- Second Penetration under the bed. Priests and magicians used in great number. Good fortune. No blame. Reach subtle obstacles through indirect means; enlist specialists of the unseen.
- Third Repeated penetration. Humiliation. Over-analysis; the same question asked until it bores itself out.
- Fourth Remorse vanishes. During the hunt three kinds of game are caught. The modest campaign yields more than expected.
- Fifth Perseverance brings good fortune. Remorse vanishes. Nothing that does not further. No beginning but an end. Before the change, three days. After the change, three days. Good fortune. Proper timing around the pivot; the reform holds.
- Sixth (Top) Penetration under the bed. He loses his property and his axe. Perseverance brings misfortune. Over-insinuation in low places; one loses the very tools that distinguished one.