遯
“Retiring” — King Wen #33
Retreat at the right moment. Withdraw with dignity before the pressure grows.
The Judgment 卦辞
亨，小利貞。
Dun indicates successful progress (in its circumstances). To a small extent it will (still) be advantageous to be firm and correct.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
遁尾，厲，勿用有攸往。
The first SIX, divided, shows a retiring tail. The position is perilous. No movement in any direction should be made.
執之用黃牛之革，莫之勝說。
The second SIX, divided, shows its subject holding (his purpose) fast as if by a (thong made from the) hide of a yellow ox, which cannot be broken.
系遁，有疾厲；畜臣妾，吉。
The third NINE, undivided, shows one retiring but bound,--to his distress and peril. (If he were to deal with his binders as in) nourishing a servant or concubine, it would be fortunate for him.
好遁，君子吉，小人否。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows its subject retiring notwithstanding his likings. In a superior man this will lead to good fortune; a small man cannot attain to this.
嘉遁，貞吉。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject retiring in an admirable way. With firm correctness there will be good fortune.
肥遁，無不利。
The sixth NINE, undivided, shows its subject retiring in a noble way. It will be advantageous in every respect.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 33 places mountain (艮) beneath heaven (乾) —stillness holding its ground below, creative force pressing upward above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Retiring”:retreat at the right moment. Withdraw with dignity before the pressure grows Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 33
What does 遯 (dùn) mean?
Hexagram 33 of the I Ching is named 遯 (dùn), usually rendered "Retiring" in English editions. Its figure pairs mountain (艮) below with heaven (乾) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 33?
乾 (Heaven) sits above and 艮 (Mountain) sits below — the classical picture is stillness holding its ground beneath creative force pressing upward.
How is hexagram 33 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 33 gives hexagram 19 — 臨 (Nearing). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 34 — 大壯 (Great Invigorating). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 44 — 姤 (Coupling).
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1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.