The Gentle Wind
巽Xun
No. 57 · Wind over Wind
Xun (The Gentle Wind)
Like wind, slip in gently: say things clearly layer by layer and push matters forward step by step. Small things succeed, as long as you have a direction and follow the right person.
Cast your own hexagramXun (The Gentle Wind) has little raw force, so work your way in softly and gradually. Small progress is possible, provided your direction is clear and you follow someone with real insight. Repeat your instructions or ideas; don't expect one telling to land.
Favorable
- Explain clearly, more than once
- Get the right person to introduce you
- Try things in small steps
- Set a deadline to decide
Avoid
- Giving in again and again
- Changing course to follow the crowd
- Dithering without deciding
- Betting big all at once
Work and money
- Job search
- Under Xun (The Gentle Wind), referrals and introductions get you in the door bit by bit, and the Judgment says it pays to see the great person: a senior who knows the field and will vouch for you. Follow up a few times after an interview, but don't waver between offers too long.
- Business
- Small success in Xun (The Gentle Wind) favors small pilots that seep into the market, not one huge outlay. New rules or new pricing need explaining to clients and staff again and again; as the Tuan puts it, the doubled wind restates commands because once won't do.
- Money
- Small, steady amounts entered step by step suit this time; heavy bets don't. Before a major financial decision, ask someone who knows the field.
Love and people
- Single
- Xun (The Gentle Wind) is a breeze working its way into someone's life. Getting close through shared circles and everyday chats suits it better than confessing on the first meeting. Going along with everything they want leaves you with nothing memorable, though.
- In a relationship
- Gentle give-and-take is good, but the top line of Xun (The Gentle Wind) bows beneath the bed until it loses its funds and its axe, and even steadfastness turns out badly. Say what you need; don't give way until there's nothing of you left.
- Getting back together
- There's a chance, but only by going softly in Xun (The Gentle Wind): get back to ordinary contact first and don't rush to talk about getting back together. The third line's reluctant, repeated yielding brings humiliation, and the awkward one would be you.
- People and partnerships
- Xun (The Gentle Wind) favors working alongside someone with insight. Its Tuan says the yielding lines defer to the firm ones, so playing a supporting role can pay off too. It's fine if you do the work and they make the calls; settle roles and the split first.
Daily life
- Exams and study
- Xun (The Gentle Wind) means entering, so read your way in layer by layer instead of only highlighting. Practice one concept across different question types. Like the fourth line's three kinds of game, one round of preparation can cover several subjects.
- Moving and travel
- Travel suits Xun (The Gentle Wind), and the Judgment says it pays to have somewhere to go, but give the trip a purpose and avoid last-minute changes. Leave a few days before and after for handoffs and wrap-up; the fifth line's three days before and after geng fits that rhythm.
- Body and mind
- Xun (The Gentle Wind) brings a busy mind that overthinks and worries about offending people. Give yourself fixed time to switch off and get outside more. If poor sleep drags on for weeks, talk to a doctor.
Traditional questions
- Something you are waiting for
- News under Xun (The Gentle Wind) tends to come in pieces over time, not all at once. Things speed up when someone in the middle passes messages along and pushes for you.
- Disputes and lawsuits
- Your leverage is small under Xun (The Gentle Wind), so don't go head to head. The second line calls in scribes and shamans in numbers: bring in mediators or a lawyer to lay out the story until the other side hears it. Set your own bottom line first.
- Lost things and people
- Moderately likely to be found. Xun (Wind) is wood, rope and long objects: look toward the southeast, by a window, inside wooden cabinets, or wherever cords and cables get tangled.
Making a decision
Go forward, mostly in small trial steps. If you've been hesitating too long, give yourself a deadline to decide.
If you are…
Xun (The Gentle Wind) enters softly, and some things simply need saying several times. Rephrase it, or send the steps in writing, instead of rereading the script. Anything beyond your authority, hand to someone who can make the call.
Xun (The Gentle Wind) has little force, so one house meeting rarely settles it. Run a month's utility bills through a trial split first, let everyone look and adjust, and bring the rules in one at a time. Roommates are more willing to follow them that way.
This is the reading when no line is changing. With changing lines, Zhu Xi’s method says which line to read, and the result page after a casting tells you directly.
小亨。利有攸往。利見大人。
Small success. It pays to have somewhere to go. It pays to see the great person.
Wind over Wind: Xun (Wind) above and Xun (Wind) below. Xun is wind, and it means entering. Wind gets in everywhere, and here one gust follows another. A single yin line lies beneath two yang lines, a picture of humble, deep entry. So the hexagram is called Xun (The Gentle Wind).
Six at the beginning
進退，利武人之貞。
Advancing and retreating. It pays to have the steadfastness of a warrior.
You overthink and worry too much about offending people, so things stay stuck on whether to do them. Set yourself a deadline and a bottom line, decide when time is up, and show a little backbone.
Small Image: 進退，志疑也。利武人之貞，志治也。
Nine in the second place
巽在牀下，用史巫紛若，吉无咎。
Bowing low beneath the bed, calling on scribes and shamans in great numbers to speak again and again (to the spirits). Good fortune, no blame.
Taking a humble stance is fine; what matters is laying out your good faith and the whole story clearly, and bringing in people who can speak for you if needed. Say it more than once and in more detail, and things tend to get through.
Small Image: 紛若之吉，得中也。
Nine in the third place
頻巽，吝。
Yielding again and again, against one's will (giving way and failing time after time). Humiliation.
You don't really agree, yet you keep giving ground on the surface, and the work still doesn't get done well. If you go along, do it wholeheartedly. If you can't, say so plainly instead of forcing it.
Small Image: 頻巽之吝，志窮也。
Six in the fourth place
悔亡，田獲三品。
Regret disappears. In the hunt, three kinds of game are taken.
You were wedged between several strong forces, where mistakes come easily. Keeping to your role and following the lead above has started to pay off, and in more than one way.
Small Image: 田獲三品，有功也。
Nine in the fifth place
貞吉悔亡，无不利。无初有終，先庚三日，後庚三日，吉。
Steadfastness brings good fortune; regret disappears; nothing is unfavorable. No good beginning, but a good end. Acting three days before the geng day (the ding day) and three days after it (the gui day) brings good fortune.
Changing a rule or a way of working meets resistance at first. Take three days beforehand to think it through and announce it, and three days afterward to check how it landed. At that pace, it tends to end well.
Small Image: 九五之吉，位正中也。
Nine at the top
巽在牀下，喪其資斧，貞凶。
Bowing low beneath the bed, he loses his funds and his axe. Even with steadfastness, misfortune.
Giving way to the extreme costs you both your resources and your ability to decide, like yielding to a client or a partner until you have no leverage left. Take your bottom line back now; yielding further is risky.
Small Image: 巽在牀下，上窮也。喪其資斧，正乎凶也。
重巽以申命，剛巽乎中正而志行。柔皆順乎剛，是以小亨，利有攸往，利見大人。
Xun (The Gentle Wind) doubles the wind trigram, and this is used to restate commands. The firm line enters gently into the central and correct place, and its will is carried out. The yielding lines both defer to the firm ones. Therefore there is small success; it pays to have somewhere to go; it pays to see the great person.
The Image隨風，巽；君子以申命行事。
Wind following wind: this is Xun (The Gentle Wind). The noble person, seeing this, restates commands and then carries out affairs.
The Sequence: why it comes here旅而无所容，故受之以巽；巽者入也。
Before this comes Lü (The Wanderer). A traveler far from home has nowhere to be taken in and needs a place to enter and settle. So Lü is followed by Xun (The Gentle Wind); Xun means entering.
Miscellaneous Notes兌見，而巽伏也。
Dui (Joy) shows itself; Xun (The Gentle Wind) lies hidden. The common reading: in Dui one yin line sits above two yang lines, so joy shows on the outside; in Xun one yin line lies beneath two yang lines, yielding and tucked away below. That is why Xun is called hidden.
Related hexagramsFAQ
What does Xun mean for love?
Xun (The Gentle Wind) is a breeze working its way into someone's life. Getting close through shared circles and everyday chats suits it better than confessing on the first meeting. Going along with everything they want leaves you with nothing memorable, though. Gentle give-and-take is good, but the top line of Xun (The Gentle Wind) bows beneath the bed until it loses its funds and its axe, and even steadfastness turns out badly. Say what you need; don't give way until there's nothing of you left.
What does Xun mean for work?
Under Xun (The Gentle Wind), referrals and introductions get you in the door bit by bit, and the Judgment says it pays to see the great person: a senior who knows the field and will vouch for you. Follow up a few times after an interview, but don't waver between offers too long. When rolling out a new approach, explaining the reasons again and again works better than one big order. Find a manager or senior colleague who knows the field and can sign off, and get their backing.
With Xun, will what I am waiting for come?
News under Xun (The Gentle Wind) tends to come in pieces over time, not all at once. Things speed up when someone in the middle passes messages along and pushes for you.
With Xun, will I find what I lost?
Moderately likely to be found. Xun (Wind) is wood, rope and long objects: look toward the southeast, by a window, inside wooden cabinets, or wherever cords and cables get tangled.
A hexagram answers one question; your chart shows the whole of you and your year.
The classical text follows the standard edition of the Zhouyi. The plain readings are Xingge’s own, offered as a reference, not as the final word.