I Ching Xun Meaning: Hexagram 57 Explained

Xun 巽 does not sound like Qian 乾, with force at the first hearing. It is wind, entering, going in through a crack. Students often hear “yield” as “just agree,” hear Xun as no spine. That is hearing a technique as surrender.

Recognize the hexagram first. Xun as Wind: Xun above and below. Two layers of wind stacked: a command must be announced again and again before the meaning goes in. It is not Jia Ren 家人. Jia Ren is Xun above Li: wind coming out of fire, the house’s order. Xun is pure Xun: entering, wind, seeping a will in. It is also not Xiao Xu 小畜. Xiao Xu is Wind over Heaven: one yin storing five yang, gathering, holding. Wind in the name does not mean the same wind.

Lü (Wanderer) 旅’s next hexagram is Xun. The Xu Gua says: 「旅而無所容，故受之以巽。巽者，入也。」 Traveling with nowhere to be received, so Xun follows. Xun means entering. Away, nowhere to be received: you must learn how to enter — enter a place, a set of rules, a language other people can hear. Entering is not hitting a door. It is like wind: no hole it does not enter, and it does not take the wall down.

Xun: doubled Xun to repeat a command — once is not enough

The Tuan says: 「重巽以申命。剛巽乎中正而志行。」 Doubled Xun to repeat a command. The firm Xun-s in the center and correct, and the will travels. Above and below both Xun: therefore doubled Xun. Shen ming 申命 is saying the command again, writing it again, saying it until people truly hear it. The firm able to Xun in the center and correct: then the aim can go through. In plain speech: your idea can be hard; the way in must be Xun. The way hard, the place not centered: the will stops at the door.

The judgment: 「小亨。利有攸往。利見大人。」 Small opening. Beneficial to go somewhere. Beneficial to see a great person. Small opening again. Xun can go, can see a great person, and it is not a great opening of banners. Wind’s opening is a seeping opening. It suits going, seeing the key person, sending words in. It does not suit changing a dynasty the moment you enter.

The Xiang says: 「隨風，巽。君子以申命行事。」 Following wind, Xun. The superior person repeats commands and acts. Wind blows, grass follows and bows. If you are a manager: state the rules clearly, say them again, then actually do them. If you are a subordinate: first hear which way the wind blows, then decide how you enter. Both sides use repeating a command: above must know how to announce; below must know how to hear.

Draw Xun and first ask yourself: can I not get in, or once in can I not stand straight? Cannot get in: Xun. Once in, only yielding, no warrior’s persistence: also a problem. This hexagram teaches two things at once. Missing one side, it skews.

Career relies on “getting in”; wealth relies on “not kneeling until you have no capital”

Ask about career and draw Xun: the matter is mostly stuck at “entering” — taking a post, entering a trade, a circle, getting a plan into the decision layer, a product into a channel. Forcing through is often blocked. Going around, seeping, repeating expression: more like wind. Said once in a meeting, not passed: change the time, the language, find a great person and say it again. That is repeating a command, not nagging.

Beneficial to see a great person: this hexagram recognizes helpers. A great person is not necessarily a large official. It is the person who can let you in: an interviewer, a key client, someone who can countersign. Draw Xun and still not go see, still in your room on the twentieth version of a deck: wind only turns in your own window.

In wealth, Xun is not windfall. It looks more like money that comes by entering a partnership, a market, a contract. Wind can enter, and can blow things away, so conditions must be written clear. Nine in the second: 「巽在床下，用史巫紛若，吉，無咎」— Xun under the bed; using scribes and shamans in a flurry; fortunate, no blame. Low as under the bed, still needing scribes and shamans praying in a flurry, then fortunate. Meaning: when needed you can be very low, ask people to help communicate, make sincerity complete. This is nine in the second: the firm in the center, low with measure. The upper nine is also 「巽在床下」, and after it 「喪其資斧，貞凶」— losing resources and the axe; persistence unfortunate. The same low: traveling money and the axe (authority, tools, capital) gone; however correct, unfortunate. In career: humble until bargaining power and professional authority are handed over: not entering. Handing yourself over.

Frequent Xun is more common. Nine in the third: 「頻巽，吝。」 Frequent Xun; regret. Yielding to people again and again, in then out, no spine of your own: regret. Regret is not great misfortune. It is cloying, the road narrower, people beginning not to take you as a matter. At work, always changing your word, always matching the last person’s opinion: frequent Xun.

When advance and retreat are unsettled, the initial six gives the medicine: 「進退，利武人之貞。」 Advance and retreat; beneficial for a warrior’s persistence. A warrior’s persistence: decided, then keep it a while. Do not scatter like wind yourself. Yielding at the very bottom, easy to lose the basis of going in or out, so borrow a little warrior bone. Draw the initial six: not an order to fight. Write “this time, in or not” as one sentence, then get through this week.

Xun in love: being able to enter is good; entering until there is no self is not

Ask about love and draw Xun: the key of the relationship is whether you can enter the other person’s world. Not only entering a room. Entering rest, family, the layer they truly care about. Wind can enter, so Xun’s love is often not a bang. It seeps slowly. It suits showing goodwill, saying words a second time, seeing the other person’s great person.

If you are single and draw Xun, initiative should be like wind: continuous, not smashing the door. Never appearing: no talk of entering. Appearing once and demanding a title: wind too violent. Beneficial to go somewhere: you can go. Beneficial to see a great person: sometimes meeting parents, sometimes the person who can let the relationship be recognized.

If you are already together, Xun most fears two illnesses. One is advance and retreat: good today, cold tomorrow, commands repeated, the other person not knowing which way the wind blows. One is frequent Xun: one side forever yielding, yielding until only regret remains. A house needs repeating a command: stating common rules clearly — not one side issuing edicts, one side only under the bed.

The image of under the bed is very concrete in love. Nine in the second’s under the bed: showing weakness, setting conflict down first, asking a third party (a friend, an elder, counseling) to send words in: can be fortunate. The upper nine’s under the bed: person, money, judgment all handed over, only yielding left. Persistence unfortunate. Yielding is not proof of love. Able to enter without losing resources and the axe: that is.

In class a few lines must be separated

Initial six: 進退，利武人之貞. Wind at the very bottom, yielding, so advance and retreat. The prescription is a warrior’s persistence: treat the decision as a military order for a short stretch. Draw this line: ask less “shall I change once more.” Changing once is repeating a command. Changing eight times is advance and retreat.

Nine in the second: 巽在床下，用史巫紛若，吉，無咎. The place is low, yang firm in the center. You can use a very humble, ritual, much-communicating way to get the matter through. Scribes and shamans in a flurry: looks busy, looks like repeated praying, still fortunate. The modern version: ask more, coordinate more, speak until people are at ease. This is usable low, not cheap.

Nine in the third: 頻巽，吝. Yielding again and again. No center, only yielding. Draw nine in the third: list “lately to whom I said yes three times, and changed three times.” Stop at the third. Regret will pile into being looked down on.

Six in the fourth: 悔亡，田獲三品. Regret vanishes; hunting, obtaining three kinds. Yin in position, able to enter and have a catch. Hunting three grades: yielding with results. Draw six in the fourth: it suits executing, landing the command above into three harvests. Regret vanishes because this yielding has game, not empty yielding.

Nine in the fifth: 貞吉，悔亡，無初有終。先庚三日，後庚三日，吉. Persistence fortunate; regret vanishes; no beginning, there is an end. Three days before geng, three days after geng; fortunate. Centered, correct Xun. A command to change must also have procedure. Three days before geng, three days after: before and after a change, leave time for people to digest. No beginning, there is an end: the start may be disordered, the back can gather. Draw nine in the fifth: it suits being the person who issues commands — and give a buffer. Do not send a notice at midnight and want people online at dawn.

Upper nine: 巽在床下，喪其資斧，貞凶. Too low. Tools gone, capital gone. Draw the upper nine: stand up from under the bed. You can Xun. You cannot hand the axe over. Post, seal, passwords, the power to decide: these are resources and the axe.

In class I have students practice “enter without dissolving”

Wind’s skill is entering. A person’s skill is, having entered, still being there.

Three common modern questions, I read this way:

Ask about seeking a job, changing trades, entering a circle: Xun is a good hexagram, because the topic is entering. Go see a great person, repeat the words until clear, the posture can be low. A trial period is like the initial six: advance and retreat will be fierce. Give yourself a warrior’s term.

Ask about being a manager, issuing a new rule: use doubled Xun to repeat a command. Saying it once equals not saying it. When you speak, you yourself must be centered and correct. Before geng, after geng: let people have time to turn. Wanting people to change faith overnight is not Xun. It is a storm.

Ask “am I too yielding”: look whether you are at nine in the second or the upper nine, whether there is frequent Xun. Yielding with a catch: six in the fourth. Yielding and losing the axe: the upper nine. The line in the middle: ask whether you still recognize your own name.

Xun’s next hexagram is Dui 兌. Enter, then there is joy. Related: I Ching Dui Meaning | Hexagram 58 How to Read: Lake, Joy and Speech Without Selling Yourself, I Ching Lü (Wanderer) Meaning | Hexagram 56 How to Read: The Wanderer, How to Live as a Guest. Teaching by words and the order of entering at home: I Ching Jia Ren Meaning | Hexagram 37 How to Read: The Family, Marriage and Ordering the House.

I Ching Xun FAQ

Does Xun tell you to obey in everything?

No. Xun is the technique of entering. Persistence must still be there. A warrior’s persistence, the firm Xun-ing in the center and correct so the will travels: neither is without a claim. Yielding without a claim is frequent Xun: regret. A claim that smashes the door is not Xun: you cannot get in.

If I draw Xun, does it suit negotiation?

It suits sending words in, seeing a great person, leaving time before changing terms. It does not suit a hard last ultimatum inside Xun, unless you are already at nine in the fifth and the procedure is done. Xun in negotiation is letting the other person hear you — not you surrendering first.

Under the bed: is that always very bad?

Look at which line. Nine in the second’s under the bed can be fortunate: the firm in the center, and communication gets the matter through. The upper nine’s under the bed is losing resources and the axe. The same posture: capital or not, centered or not, results reverse. What divination fears most is grabbing one image and pronouncing a death sentence.

What is the difference between Xun and Jia Ren?

Both have Xun. Jia Ren is wind and fire: wind coming out of fire, inner and outer correct seats of a house. Xun is wind stacked on wind: entering, repeating a command, being able to go in even away. Ask about house rules, ordering the house: Jia Ren. Ask how to enter an environment, how to speak a command in: Xun.

For an online hexagram, try free love divination and match both birthdays with this reading.