In love
In a relationship, Xun points to gentle influence: repeated attentions and measured words rather than pressing demands.
Hexagram 57
I Ching hexagram 57: The Gentle (Xun)
Xun, the Gentle (Wind), is the hexagram of penetrating softness: a discreet, repeated influence reaches what force cannot.
- gentleness
- perseverance
- influence
The essentials
Xun at a glance
For you, Xun invites you to act through light, regular touches: a clear instruction, repeated steadily, ends up taking hold.
A strength
An influence that slips in everywhere without clashing, and that changes things deeply through steadiness.
Something to watch
Hesitation, or the violence of repeated efforts: gentleness loses its power the moment it turns indecisive or forced.
- What it advises
- Set a clear direction, repeat it without pushing, and let the influence work over time.
- Its opposite
- 51. The Arousing (Zhen)
The situation
Xun is the wind that creeps into every corner. A small success is granted: no overturning is achieved, but real progress through persistence. It judges it useful to move in one direction and to consult a person of worth.
This gentleness is not weakness. Like wind over grass, an influence sure of itself ends up bending what it touches. The lines show its pitfalls: indecision between advancing and retreating, the confusion that sends you looking for the problem under the bed, the brutal insistence that penetrates through blows.
Xun invites you to set a clear direction, to repeat it calmly, and to change things only after giving notice and then reviewing.
The image: Wind above Wind
- AboveWind: gentleness that penetrates
- BelowWind: gentleness that penetrates
One wind following another: the breath repeats. The commentary concludes that the wise person reiterates their instructions before carrying out their affairs, without jolts or haste.
Consult the I Ching
Throw three coins six times: your hexagram, the lines that change, and the direction they point to.
Free, no account · nothing is sent · no predictions
The six lines
- 1st line (bottom) · brokenAdvancing, retreating, without deciding: the ancient text advises the upright firmness of a courageous soldier to break out of hesitation.
- 2nd line · solidUnder the bed, diviners are called in amid a disorder bordering on confusion: even so, the outcome is favorable and free of blame.
- 3rd line · solidPenetrating through violent, repeated efforts: regret follows. Gentleness loses its meaning when it is forced.
- 4th line · brokenRegrets fade: the day’s hunt yields enough for three portions, one for the rite, one for the guests, one for the household.
- 5th line · solidWith steadiness, all goes well and regrets fade. The beginning may have been weak, the end is good. Announce the change three days beforehand, review it three days afterward.
- 6th line (top) · solidUnder the bed again, but the ax that cut is lost: even with integrity, the situation goes badly. Gentleness pushed too far removes the ability to decide.
Xun in your life
At work
At work, the hexagram favors regular communication, clear instructions, and changes that are announced, then reviewed in use.
The I Ching helps you reflect on how to act: it does not say what is coming.
How is it built?
- Character
- 巽 (xùn)
- Number
- 57 in the King Wen sequence
- Trigrams
- Wind (巽) above, Wind (巽) below
- Inner hexagram
- 38. Opposition (Kui) (lines 2 to 4 and 3 to 5)
- Read upside down
- 58. The Joyous (Dui)
- Symbol
- ䷸ (U+4DF8)
The English names are the usual renderings of the Chinese characters; the texts rely on the Chinese and on early public-domain translations (Legge, 1882; Philastre, 1885–1893).
Sources
- Wikipedia (English), “List of hexagrams of the I Ching,” read on October 15, 2026: numbers, characters, pinyin, lower and upper trigrams.
- Wikipedia (English), “Bagua,” read on October 15, 2026: lines of the eight trigrams, from bottom to top.
- James Legge (1815–1897), The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI, 1882 (Wikisource): public domain.
- Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre (1837–1902), Le Yi King ou Livre des changements de la dynastie des Tsheou, Annales du Musée Guimet, 1885–1893: public domain (the author died more than 70 years ago).
Frequently asked questions about hexagram 57
What does hexagram 57 of the I Ching mean?
Hexagram 57, Xun, means the gentle, or wind: a softness that penetrates everywhere, an influence repeated steadily, which gradually obtains what force could not.
Which hexagram is the opposite of Xun?
Hexagram 51, Zhen, the Arousing: the sudden shock, where Xun acts through slow penetration. One wakes you, the other permeates.