![A lookout pole in a high place [the source uses irregular wording 爽高]; a medicine stove on the ground; an official climbing a ladder; a flower branch on the ground.](/scenes/53.webp)
Scene Description
Image Symbolism
Reading the Picture
Jian is advancement step by step. The official in the picture climbs his ladder rung by rung, while someone at home looks out for his return.
Look first at the official partway up the ladder. The Image Symbolism reads his climb as promotion and a proud homecoming, but a ladder is taken one rung at a time, which is the hexagram’s point: advance in order. To the right, a tall pole rises from a brick base, marked 望, ‘to gaze into the distance’ or ‘to hope’. It stands for family watching for the traveller’s return.
In the foreground are a stove with a pot, a sign of safety, and a flowering plant. The text speaks of a flower branch lying on the ground, a sign of something that does not last; in the drawing the flowers grow upright from the soil. Either way, quick bloom is not lasting growth.
The lower trigram is Mountain ☶ and the upper is Wind ☴, which also stands for wood: a tree on a mountain, gaining height slowly. The line statements follow a wild goose from riverbank to rock, dry land, tree and hill, and the ladder echoes that sequence. The third line warns of the husband who sets out and never returns, the one the pole waits for.
- Work
- If a promotion or new role is in view, consider whether you are climbing rung by rung or trying to skip steps. Ask what still needs securing below before you go higher.
- Relationships
- If a relationship is moving toward commitment, consider letting it proceed at its own pace and in the proper order. If someone is waiting for you, do they know when you will come back?
- Timing
- The picture favours slow, steady progress. If results seem to be blooming quickly, ask whether they have roots, and whether a gradual pace would hold up longer.
Line Statements
Listed from the bottom line to the top line.
- First six: The wild goose gradually reaches the bank. Danger for the young, criticism; no blame.
- Six in the second place: The goose reaches the rock. Eating and drinking joyfully. Good fortune.
- Nine in the third place: The goose reaches dry land. The husband campaigns and does not return; the wife is pregnant but does not give birth. Misfortune. It is beneficial to resist robbers.
- Six in the fourth place: The goose reaches a tree, perhaps finding a level branch. No blame.
- Nine in the fifth place: The goose reaches the hill. The wife does not conceive for three years; in the end nothing overcomes her. Good fortune.
- Top nine: The goose reaches dry land. Its feathers can be used in ceremony. Good fortune.
Meaning of the Hexagram
Translated from the Chinese 人间道 commentary with AI assistance; translator notes appear in brackets.
“Development: the maiden’s marriage brings good fortune. Steadfastness is beneficial.”
The way of Jian (Development) is orderly and advances slowly. We can see it in a woman’s marriage: when a woman marries, if she proceeds gradually and in order, there will surely be good fortune; and if she remains the same from beginning to end, the fortune is greater still. It is the same when a minister enters the court to serve the Son of Heaven: he must proceed in order. If order is lost, it amounts to deceiving and slighting the sovereign, and harm will surely follow.
“Development is advancing; the maiden’s marriage brings good fortune. Advancing, it attains its position; going forward, there is achievement.”
Jian discusses the way of advancing: one must know that advancing has to be orderly, like a woman going to her husband’s home, which is surely fortunate. If in advancing one can combine firmness and yielding and arrive at the fitting position, the advance will surely bring achievement.
“Advancing by what is correct, one can set the country right. As for its position, the firm attains the centre. Still within and gentle without, its movement is inexhaustible.”
By advancing on the correct way one can make the country flourish and set virtue right. So every advance must hold to the correct way to be fortunate. As for what ‘attaining the position’ properly means: it must be attained through firmness in the centre before it can be called attaining the position. Inwardly still and outwardly compliant: only when a person advances like this can he obtain good fortune. If one advances out of desire, restlessness arises; one loses the way of gradual development, and resistance appears. So if one can be free of desire within and harmonious and compliant without, this advance can go on without end.
“On the mountain there is a tree: Development. The noble person accordingly abides in worthy virtue and improves the customs.”
A tree on a mountain owes its height to a gradual process. So the noble person, observing the image of Jian, knows that abiding in worthiness, setting virtue right and refining the customs all succeed through gradual development. If people’s bad habits are changed abruptly, the result is a backlash. If moral education is to enter people’s hearts, it must proceed gradually. This is the way of Jian.
“The wild goose gradually reaches the bank. Danger for the young, criticism; no blame.”
The wild goose migrates according to the season and lives gathered in flocks, in order: this is gradual development. The first yin is in a lowly place with no support above. The noble person understands the time, and so he abides in it without doubt. But petty and ignorant people can see only what is in front of their eyes; they do not worry about the future or see into the principles of things, and they seek to advance only by force. They lose the way of gradual development: if they advance, blame arises; if they do not advance, there is no disaster.
“The danger for the young: by rights there is no blame.”
At the beginning, even though petty people have fearful and uneasy hearts, what they do still accords with right principle, and so there is no blame.
“The goose reaches the rock. Eating and drinking joyfully. Good fortune.”
A soft line in a soft position holds the centre fittingly. In the time of Development, its advance is never hasty; it is steady like a great rock. Because it can dwell in such security, it can eat and drink in harmony and joy, and its good fortune is certain.
“Eating and drinking joyfully: not merely eating one’s fill.”
A central and correct person who has his proper position and dwells there fittingly can eat and drink in peace and joy, with a happy heart and mind; it is not simply a matter of eating his fill.
“The goose reaches dry land. The husband campaigns and does not return; the wife is pregnant but does not give birth. Misfortune. It is beneficial to resist robbers.”
The ninth in the third place, yang and firm, sits at the top of the lower trigram and is about to enter the upper trigram. This says that when a person is about to rise, he should keep to the correct way and wait for the time to come. He must never advance out of desire in order to fulfil his private aims; that is to lose the way of Development. He is like a husband who seeks to advance with no regard for the way, and it has the same meaning as a wife who conceives improperly and cannot bring up the child. So misfortune arrives. Only by holding firmly to the correct way and rejecting wrong thoughts can one obtain good fortune.
“The husband campaigns and does not return: he leaves his companions, which is shameful. The wife is pregnant but does not give birth: she has lost her way. It is beneficial to resist robbers: by following what is right, they protect one another.”
The husband knows only how to set out and not how to return; because of desire he loses the correct way and turns away from his own kind, which is shameful. The wife’s pregnancy is improper, and so the child cannot be brought up. Both come from losing the correct way. The only benefit lies in holding firmly to the correct way and rejecting evil; by following the correct way, one can keep oneself safe.
“The goose reaches a tree, perhaps finding a level branch. No blame.”
This soft yin line is in a high position, with a firm yang person below it who wants to advance, so it cannot be at ease. It is like a wild goose that comes to a tree: standing high up in a tree, it surely cannot be at ease. If it can stand on a horizontal branch and settle itself in peace, it can be without disaster.
“Perhaps finding a level branch: by being compliant and gentle.”
This means that the way to seek peace and settle oneself is simply to comply with what is right and act correctly. For one who can do this, where could there be any unease?
“The goose reaches the hill. The wife does not conceive for three years; in the end nothing can overcome it. Good fortune.”
The place where the wild goose stops is the highest ground, an image of the ruler’s honoured position. When the time of Development arrives, it knows that only the second line below can share its heart and virtue. The third and fourth lines in between keep them apart; it is like a wife who does not conceive for three years, which serves no purpose. The incorrectness that separates them from the correct way will surely disappear in the end, and the correct way will surely bring them together; it only takes longer. In the end, good fortune.
“In the end nothing can overcome it; good fortune: one obtains what one wishes.”
When ruler and minister meet each other on the central and correct way, they will surely come together in the end, and what they wish will surely be fulfilled.
“The goose reaches dry land. Its feathers can be used in ceremony. Good fortune.”
The wild goose can fly in the sky without any hindrance. When a person’s worth and ability are like this, and he has advanced to the very end without losing the way of gradual development, his worth and far-reaching ability can serve as a model, just as the goose’s feathers can be used in ceremony. There will surely be good fortune.
“Its feathers can be used in ceremony; good fortune: it cannot be thrown into disorder.”
The noble person’s advance must be gradual, following an orderly sequence step by step; only then is it fortunate. This advance does not lose its order, and so it is fortunate; disorder invites misfortune. Therefore it can serve as a rule of propriety to be followed.
Show the Chinese original (人间道)
渐：女归吉，利贞。 渐之道，其有序，且缓进，吾人可于女之出嫁而见之，女归时，以渐进有序，必吉，且始 终如一，更吉。犹臣之入朝侍奉天子亦同，必当有序，如失序则为欺陵主上，必生祸害。
渐之进也，女归吉也。进得位，往有功也。 渐乃论进之道，知进必有序，犹如女之归夫，必吉。进时能刚柔并济，适得其位，此进必 有功也。进以正，可以正邦也。其位，刚得中也。止而巽，动不穷也。以正道而进，可以兴邦 正德也。故凡进皆须禀持以正道则吉。正得其位之定义，必以刚中而得，方可谓得位。
内止外 顺，其人之进如此，方可得吉，如进之以欲，乃生燥，必失渐道，阻力乃生，故能做到内无欲， 而外和顺，此进方可无穷无尽矣。
山上有木，渐.，君子以居贤德善俗。 木在山上，其高有自，故君子观渐象，乃知居贤能正德，美化风俗，其能成功，皆归之在 渐，人之错习，遽改生反，教化之于人，势必以渐进方可入于人心，此渐之道也。
鸿渐于干，小子厉，有言，无咎。 鸿鸟之以时而迁动，又群聚而生且有序， 此渐也。初阴居卑下，上又无援助，君子知时， 故处之不疑。但小人及无知之人只能见眼前之 事，不知患于未来，洞察事理，唯以刚而求进， 失渐矣，进则生咎，不进无灾。
小子之厉，义无咎也。 初始时，虽有小人之危惧不安之心，但因 于义理仍合，故有无咎。
鸿渐于磐，饮食衎衎，吉。 柔居柔位，得中位得当，居渐之时，进必 不速，稳若磐石状，其能安居如此，故可饮食 和乐，其吉必然。
饮食衎衎 衎衎 衎衎 衎衎，不素饱也。 中正之人，得正位，适居之状，能饮食安 乐，心志愉快，不光是饱食而已。
鸿渐于陆，夫征不复，妇孕 不育，凶，利御寇。
九三阳刚居下卦之上，即将进入上卦，意 言，人之将上进之时，理应守正道以得时至， 万不可以欲而进，以遂私志，此己失渐道，犹 为求进而不顾于道之夫，妇人受孕不以正，亦 不可育同义，此凶即致矣。惟可坚守正道，摒 除邪念，可得吉。
夫征不复，离群丑也，妇孕 不育，失其道也，利用御 寇，顺相保也。 夫但知征而不知复，乃因欲而失正道，叛 离群类，可丑也。妇人之孕乃不正，故不可育 也。皆因失其正道，唯利在坚守正道，弃絶邪 恶，可因顺正道而保平安也。
鸿渐于木，或得其桷，无咎。 此阴柔在高位，下有阳刚欲进之人，必不 得安处，犹鸿鸟近于木，立木高处，必不安也， 如能立在横枝上，自处安宁，则可无灾。
或得其桷，顺以巽也。 此意求平安自宁之道，惟有顺于义，行乎 正，能如此者，何处会不安呢？
鸿渐于陵，妇三妇不孕，终 莫之胜，吉。 鸿鸟所止于至高之地，象君之尊位，此渐 之时至，乃知惟下二爻位，可与同心同德，居 中之三，四位相隔，犹即令妇人三年不孕，亦 无用于事，相隔正道之不正，其终必消，正道 必合，惟时较久而已。终吉。
终莫之胜吉，得所愿也。
君臣以中正之道相交，其终必合，所愿必 遂也。
鸿渐于陆，其羽可用爲仪， 吉。 鸿能飞于天上，毫无阻碍，人之贤能如此， 进至终极，又不失渐之道，其贤能通达之能可 以为表率，犹鸿之羽，可以用礼仪一样，必吉。
其羽可用爲仪，吉，不可乱 也。 君子之进，必有以渐，有序渐循之，乃可 以为吉，此进因不失序，故吉，序乱招凶。故 可以为礼法而遵循之。