Hexagram 57 of 64
巽 Xùn · The Gentle
上 巽 Wind (Xùn) over 下 巽 Wind (Xùn)
Enter by the gaps.
Judgment
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, judgment. English translation in preparation.
Image
In short: wind upon wind.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, Great Image. Short gloss by Koyonari; full translation in preparation.
Commentary
Xùn is wind upon wind, breeze entering through crevices. Xùn speaks of entering through the gaps: rather than pushing the door head-on, look for the narrow opening already ajar. Gentleness itself is a way through; once inside, other matters can follow. Today, pushing hard will only shut the door tighter.
Koyonari commentary.
The Six Lines
“Advancing and retreating: favorable in the perseverance of a warrior.” Wanting both to advance and to retreat leaves action uncertain. Steadfastness means holding to what is right; here, a warrior's firmness and decisiveness in doing so are favorable. Xùn concerns humility and compliance. Its first yin line says that humility also needs independent judgment to avoid endless hesitation.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 1. Koyonari translation.
“Advancing and retreating: the will wavers. Favorable for a warrior’s steadfastness: the will is governed.” Advancing and retreating indicates an indecisive mind. Favorable for a warrior to remain steadfast means disciplining the resolve to stay firm.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 2. Koyonari translation.
“Gentle penetration beneath the couch. Employing scribes and diviners in abundance brings good fortune: no blame.” Humility and obedience go so far as to crouch beneath a bed. Through scribes responsible for ritual prayers and spirit mediums, sincerity is declared to the deities in succession. Good fortune means an auspicious outcome, and no blame means no fault. Although the second yang line appears excessively humble, its sincerity still gains acceptance.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 3. Koyonari translation.
“Good fortune in profusion comes from obtaining the center.” The good fortune of the profuse prayers stems from the nine in the second place holding the lower trigram’s center.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 4. Koyonari translation.
“Repeated compliance: regret.” Compliance is repeatedly adopted and repeatedly lost: it is forced and cannot be maintained. Hence humiliation, something shameful and regrettable. Another reading takes pín to mean frowning, describing reluctant compliance with a frown and an unhappy heart. The third yang line occupies a yang position but is not central; its humility is not willing or wholehearted.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 5. Koyonari translation.
“The hardship of repeatedly submitting: the will is exhausted.” Yielding repeatedly and reluctantly (one view takes pín as frowning with displeasure out of reluctance) leads to hardship (regret and embarrassment), because the inner resolve is constrained and cannot expand.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 6. Koyonari translation.
“Remorse disappears. The hunt takes game of three kinds.” Regret disappears means that earlier regret is resolved. A hunt yields game divided into three categories, for sacrifices, entertaining guests, and the kitchen. The fourth yin line uses a successful hunt as its image: humility and compliance, when appropriate, can bring concrete results.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 7. Koyonari translation.
“In hunting, three kinds of game are captured: there is meritorious achievement.” Dividing the hunt into three uses—traditional notes explain them as dried provisions for sacrificial rites, entertaining guests, and the royal kitchen—means this line achieves merit.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 8. Koyonari translation.
“Perseverance brings good fortune; remorse disappears; nothing that is not favorable. No good beginning, but a good ending: three days before Geng, three days after Geng, good fortune.” Good fortune through steadfastness means an auspicious outcome from holding to what is right. Regret disappears, and everything is favorable. Despite an unsatisfactory beginning, a good result remains possible. Gēng is read as change: plan carefully during the three days before a change, and check its effects during the three days afterward. Only then does it bring good fortune.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 9. Koyonari translation.
“Good fortune of nine in the fifth place: the position is central and correct.” It brings good fortune because its position is both central and correct.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 10. Koyonari translation.
“Gentle penetration beneath the couch, losing one's funds and axe: perseverance brings misfortune.” Humility and compliance reach the point of crouching beneath a bed, already an excess. Losing the axe used for cutting also signifies losing decisiveness. Wáng Bì explains zīfǔ as an implement for cutting and deciding; another reading takes it as supplies and an axe. Misfortune through steadfastness means danger from persisting in this state.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 11. Koyonari translation.
“Submitting beneath the bed: the top has reached extremity. Losing one’s zīfǔ: indeed misfortune.” Being excessively submissive and crouching beneath the bed occurs because the top nine occupies the topmost position of the hexagram, reaching the point of exhaustion. Losing the zīfǔ is, by the reasoning here, precisely misfortune; traditional commentaries mostly explain zīfǔ as an ax used for decisive judgments, while another view takes it as wealth and an ax.
Zhouyi, hexagram 57, line 12. Koyonari translation.