巽
“Ground” — King Wen #57
The wind entering. Gentle, persistent penetration succeeds where force fails.
The Judgment 卦辞
小亨，利有攸往，利見大人。
Xun intimates that (under the conditions which it denotes) there will be some little attainment and progress. There will be advantage in movement onward in whatever direction. It will be advantageous (also) to see the great man.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
進退，利武人之貞。
The first SIX, divided, shows its subject (now) advancing, (now) receding. It would be advantageous for him to have the firm correctness of a brave soldier.
巽在床下，用史巫紛若，吉，無咎。
The second NINE, undivided, shows the representative of Sun beneath a couch, and employing diviners and exorcists in a way bordering on confusion. There will be good fortune and no error.
頻巽，吝。
The third NINE, undivided, shows its subject penetrating (only) by violent and repeated efforts. There will be occasion for regret.
悔亡，田獲三品。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows all occasion for repentance (in its subject) passed away. He takes game for its threefold use in his hunting.
貞吉，悔亡，無不利。無初有終。先庚三日，後庚三日，吉。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows that with firm correctness there will be good fortune (to its subject). All occasion for repentance will disappear, and all his movements will be advantageous. There may have been no (good) beginning, but there will be a (good) end. Three days before making any changes, (let him give notice of them); and three days after, (let him reconsider them). There will (thus) be good fortune.
巽在床下，喪其資斧，貞凶。
The sixth NINE, undivided, shows the representative of penetration beneath a couch, and having lost the axe with which he executed his decisions. However firm and correct he may (try to) be, there will be evil.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 57 places wind (巽) beneath wind (巽) —gentle influence working inward below, gentle influence working inward above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Ground”:the wind entering. Gentle, persistent penetration succeeds where force fails Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 57
What does 巽 (xùn) mean?
Hexagram 57 of the I Ching is named 巽 (xùn), usually rendered "Ground" in English editions. Its figure pairs wind (巽) below with wind (巽) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 57?
巽 (Wind) sits above and 巽 (Wind) sits below — the classical picture is gentle influence working inward beneath gentle influence working inward.
How is hexagram 57 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 57 gives hexagram 51 — 震 (Shake). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 58 — 兌 (Open). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 38 — 睽 (Polarising).
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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.