Development
- In Chinese
- 漸 jiàn
- Above
- The Gentle, wind
- Below
- Keeping Still, mountain
Did you get this hexagram?
Mark your changing lines and keep your cast.
Mark my castWhat hexagram 53 means
Hexagram 53 stands for advance that comes gradually. Legge says that what sets it apart from other hexagrams of advance is “the gradual manner in which the advance takes place”.
The judgment uses a wedding as its picture. In Legge it suggests “the marriage of a young lady, and the good fortune (attending it)”, and it adds that “There will be advantage in being firm and correct”.
The six lines follow a flight of wild geese. They begin at the shore in the first line and end on the heights in the top line.
The lower trigram is Gen, the mountain, and the upper is Xun. Turned upside down, or with every line changed, the figure becomes hexagram 54, which is also the next one in the sequence.
The judgment and the image
The judgment
漸女歸吉。利貞。
DEVELOPMENT. The maiden Is given in marriage. Good fortune. Perseverance furthers.
good fortune it goes wellit furthers it is favorable
The image
山上有木，《漸》。君子以居賢德善俗。
On the mountain, a tree: The image of DEVELOPMENT. Thus the superior man abides in dignity and virtue, In order to improve the mores.
What the commentaries say
The commentary on the judgment looks at how the lines sit. As they advance they “get into their correct places”, and it reads this as “the achievements of a successful progress”. It adds that when the advance is made “according to correctness” the subject of the hexagram “might rectify his country”.
The same commentary names two attributes, “restfulness and flexible penetration”. Together they give “an (onward) movement that is inexhaustible”.
The image is a tree on a mountain. From it the commentary draws a rule for a person, who “attains to and maintains his extraordinary virtue, and makes the manners of the people good”. Wilhelm has the same person abide “in dignity and virtue, In order to improve the mores”.
Legge explains why the judgment speaks of a wedding. A marriage is “an important event taking place with various preliminary steps, continued from its initiation to its consummation”.
He also explains the geese of the lines. The goose “from the most ancient times played an important part in the marriage ceremonies of the Chinese”, and he thinks this may have suggested the symbol.
Legge does not hide a doubt. He calls the account drawn from the trigrams “not satisfactory”, he says the account drawn from the lines does not “carry conviction with it to the mind”, and he writes “We must leave the question”.
The six lines
First line
鴻漸于干。小子厲有言，无咎。
The wild goose gradually draws near the shore. The young son is in danger. There is talk. No blame.
danger there is dangerno blame there is no mistake in it
The geese approach the shore, and the text turns to a young officer who is in danger and “spoken against”. The commentary clears him, since the danger “is owing to no fault of his in the matter of what is right”. Legge points to a line that is weak and “without a proper correlate”, which he says agrees with the danger and with the caution added.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 37, The Family
Second line
鴻漸于磐，飲食衎衎，吉。
The wild goose gradually draws near the cliff. Eating and drinking in peace and concord. Good fortune.
good fortune it goes well
The geese approach the large rocks and feed at ease, and the line has good fortune. The commentary adds that this is “not without having earned their food”. Legge finds the reason in the line itself, which is “weak or humble, and central, and has a proper correlate in 5”. He notes that the officer has advanced with the geese, “though he is not mentioned”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 57, The Gentle
Third line
鴻漸于陸。夫征不復，婦孕不育，凶。利禦寇。
The wild goose gradually draws near the plateau. The man goes forth and does not return. The woman carries a child but does not bring it forth. Misfortune. It furthers one to fight off robbers.
misfortune it goes badlyit furthers it is favorable
This is the one line that speaks of evil. Legge says its subject “is likely to be violent and at the same time unsuccessful in his movements”, and he compares him to “a husband who does not care for his wife, or a wife who does not care for her child”. The commentary reads the husband who does not return as one who “separates himself from his comrades”.
The line does not end there. The case “might be advantageous in resisting plunderers”, and Legge agrees that “his strength in the end would be useful”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 20, Contemplation
Fourth line
鴻漸于木，或得其桷，无咎。
The wild goose gradually draws near the tree. Perhaps it will find a flat branch. No blame.
no blame there is no mistake in it
The geese come to the trees, which do not suit them. Legge notes that “The web-footed goose is not suited for taking hold on the branches; but on flat branches it can rest”. He says the line “does not promise a good auspice for its subject”, yet it is “the first line in the trigram of humility”, and so he will not fall into error. The commentary sees “docility” in the line.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 33, Retreat
Fifth line
鴻漸于陵，婦三歲不孕，終莫之勝，吉。
The wild goose gradually draws near the summit. For three years the woman has no child. In the end nothing can hinder her. Good fortune.
good fortune it goes well
The geese reach the high mound, and the text speaks of a wife who is childless for three years. Then it turns, since “in the end the natural issue cannot be prevented”. The commentary says the subject of the line “will get what he desires”. Legge reads the wait as the work of “calumniating enemies”, and he sums it up by saying that “things come right in the end”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 52, Keeping Still
Sixth line
鴻漸于陸，其羽可用為儀，吉。
The wild goose gradually draws near the cloud heights. Its feathers can be used for the sacred dance. Good fortune.
good fortune it goes well
The geese are on the heights and the line has good fortune. Legge reads that its subject has reached the top and “There is no more advance for him”, yet “he may still do some good work for the state”. The text puts it as feathers that “can be used as ornaments”, and the commentary adds that his object and character “cannot be disturbed”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 39, Obstruction
Hexagram 53 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 53 unchanging, what remains is the judgment, with its good fortune and its advice to be firm and correct, and the image of the tree on the mountain, which asks for virtue that is kept up.
Questions people ask
What does hexagram 53 mean?
It stands for advance that is made gradually and in order. The judgment pictures it as “the marriage of a young lady, and the good fortune (attending it)”.
What does hexagram 53 unchanging mean?
With no moving lines you read only the judgment and the image. For hexagram 53 that is the good fortune of the marriage, the advice to be firm and correct, and the tree on the mountain.
What does hexagram 53 changing to 52 mean?
It is hexagram 53 with its fifth line moving. That line shows the geese at the high mound and a long wait that ends in “good fortune”, and when it changes the hexagram becomes number 52.
Why does hexagram 53 speak of wild geese?
Legge gives two reasons. The goose had a part in marriage ceremonies, and it is a bird of passage that flies “in processional order”, which suits a text about advancing by steps.
Is hexagram 53 a good sign?
The judgment speaks of good fortune, and so do the second, fifth and top lines. Only the third line speaks of evil, and the first and fourth are without error.
Richard Wilhelm, translated by Cary F. Baynes. Kien in James Legge. Development in Wilhelm and Baynes.
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