Following
- In Chinese
- 隨 suí
- Above
- The Joyous, lake
- Below
- The Arousing, thunder
Did you get this hexagram?
Mark your changing lines and keep your cast.
Mark my castWhat hexagram 17 means
Hexagram 17 is about following. Thunder lies below and the lake above. Legge says the figure covers both directions, since “The hexagram includes the cases where one follows others, and where others follow him”.
The judgment is favorable and sets one condition. Legge has “great progress and success”, and then adds that “it will be advantageous to be firm and correct”.
Legge repeats the condition in his note. Whether one follows or is followed, “the following must be guided by a reference to what is proper and correct”.
The judgment and the image
The judgment
隨元亨，利貞，无咎。
FOLLOWING has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. No blame.
success things flow and come throughit furthers it is favorableno blame there is no mistake in it
The image
澤中有雷，《隨》。君子以嚮晦入宴息。
Thunder in the middle of the lake: The image of FOLLOWING. Thus the superior man at nightfall Goes indoors for rest and recuperation.
What the commentaries say
The commentary on the judgment explains the figure by its two trigrams. In it “we see the strong (trigram) come and place itself under the weak”, and the two together show “the attributes of movement and pleasure”.
The same commentary speaks of the scale of the moment. In its words “all under heaven will be found following at such a time”, and it closes with “Great indeed are the time and significance indicated in Sui.”
The image is thunder hidden in the waters of a marsh. From it the commentary draws a plain rule. The superior man, “when it is getting towards dark, enters (his house) and rests”.
Wilhelm gives the same picture. At nightfall the superior man “Goes indoors for rest and recuperation”.
Legge ties the hexagram to the one that comes before it, which he calls “the symbol of harmony and satisfaction”. Where those are found, he writes, “men are sure to follow”, and they will not “follow those in whom they have no complacency”.
He also explains why the judgment is so favorable. The promise of success “is due to this flexibility and applicability of it”, that is, to a following that runs both ways.
The six lines
First line
官有渝，貞吉，出門交有功。
The standard is changing. Perseverance brings good fortune. To go out of the door in company Produces deeds.
good fortune it goes well
A strong line sits in the lowest place, under the weak lines that Legge says “ought to follow it”. In his note this “gives rise to the representation of one changing his pursuit”.
The text still gives good fortune to the one who is firm and correct. Legge reads the step beyond the gate as a sign of “his public spirit, and superiority to selfish considerations”, and the commentary says that in taking it “he will not fail (in the method he pursues)”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 45, Gathering Together
Second line
係小子，失丈夫。
If one clings to the little boy, One loses the strong man.
no verdict
This weak line holds to the line below it and gives up the strong fifth. Legge notes that “it prefers to cleave to the line below, instead of waiting to follow 5”.
The commentary gives the plain reason for the loss, “he cannot be with the two at the same time”. The text states no outcome, and Legge speaks of a “bad omen” that goes unsaid.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 58, The Joyous
Third line
係丈夫，失小子，隨有求、得。利居貞。
If one clings to the strong man, One loses the little boy. Through following one finds what one seeks. It furthers one to remain persevering.
it furthers it is favorable
The third line makes the opposite choice. Legge notes that “it follows the strong line above it and leaves line 1, reversing the course of 2”, and the commentary says it does so “by the decision of his will”.
The text says “Such following will get what it seeks” and then advises holding to what is firm and correct. Legge calls that ending “equivalent to a caution”, because the line is weak and “4 is not its proper correlate”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 49, Revolution
Fourth line
隨有獲，貞凶。有孚在道，以明，何咎？
Following creates success. Perseverance brings misfortune. To go one’s way with sincerity brings clarity. How could there be blame in this?
misfortune it goes badly
This line is followed and gains adherents, and it is the one line whose text speaks of evil. Legge sets it “in the place of a great minister next the ruler in 5” and names the risk, that “his having adherents may be injurious to the supreme and sole authority of that ruler”.
The commentary is blunt about the adherents. It says “according to the idea (of the hexagram), this is evil”.
The way out is sincerity that can be seen. Of the one who is sincere in his course and makes that evident, the text asks “into what error will he fall?” The commentary describes that sincerity as “showing his intelligence, and leading to achievement”. Wilhelm words the same turn as “To go one’s way with sincerity brings clarity.”
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 3, Difficulty at the Beginning
Fifth line
孚于嘉、吉。
Sincere in the good. Good fortune.
good fortune it goes well
The fifth line is the place of the ruler and it carries good fortune. Its subject is “sincere in (fostering all) that is excellent”.
The commentary gives the ground for it, “his position is correct and in the centre”. Legge adds that the line is strong, “with 2 as its proper correlate”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 51, The Arousing
Sixth line
拘係之乃從，維之，王用亨于西山。
He meets with firm allegiance And is still further bound. The king introduces him To the Western Mountain.
success things flow and come through
The top line shows sincerity “firmly held and clung to, yea, and bound fast”. Legge finds here “the ideal of following, directed by the most sincere adherence to what is right”.
The king presents his offerings on the western mountain. Legge reads that this influence “not only extends to men, but also to spiritual beings”, and the commentary says the idea of the hexagram “has reached its extreme development”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 25, Innocence
Hexagram 17 unchanging
If none of your six lines is moving, you read the hexagram as a whole. That is the judgment and the image above, without any of the line texts.
The book gives the reason. Lines that do not move are “non-moving lines, which serve only as structural matter in the hexagram, without intrinsic meaning of their own”.
For hexagram 17 unchanging, what remains is the judgment, which grants great progress on the condition of being firm and correct, and the image of going indoors to rest when it grows dark.
Questions people ask
What does hexagram 17 mean?
It stands for following, both following others and being followed. The judgment grants “great progress and success” and asks that the following be firm and correct.
What does hexagram 17 unchanging mean?
With no moving lines you read only the judgment and the image. For hexagram 17 that is success for the one who is firm and correct, and the rule of going indoors to rest when it is “getting towards dark”.
What does hexagram 17 changing to 51 mean?
It is hexagram 17 with its fifth line moving. That line shows the ruler “sincere in (fostering all) that is excellent” and carries good fortune, and when it changes the hexagram becomes number 51.
What does hexagram 17 changing to 3 mean?
It is hexagram 17 with its fourth line moving. That line shows one who is followed and gains adherents, with a warning of evil and a way out through sincerity. When it changes the hexagram becomes number 3.
Which lines of hexagram 17 have good fortune?
Two of them, the first and the fifth. The first is good for the one who is “firm and correct”, and the fifth for the one who is sincere in what is excellent.
Richard Wilhelm, translated by Cary F. Baynes. Sui in James Legge. Following in Wilhelm and Baynes.
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