Hexagram 53 of 64
Gradual Progress
漸 Jiàn
Upper trigram: 巽 Xùn, wind
Lower trigram: 艮 Gèn, mountain
The judgment
女歸吉，利貞。
A woman goes to her marriage: good fortune. It is fitting to hold firm.
The Great Image
山上有木，漸；君子以居賢德善俗。
On the mountain there are trees: this is Gradual Progress. In the same way, the noble person dwells in worthy character and improves local custom.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初六
鴻漸于干，小子厲，有言，无咎。
The wild goose moves by degrees to the riverbank. For the young one, danger. There is talk. No blame.
The goose has only reached the water's edge, and a young person there may hear criticism. If you are new at something, consider that some talk comes with being new.
Line 2 六二
鴻漸于磐，飲食衎衎，吉。
The wild goose moves by degrees to the broad rock. Drinking and eating in contentment. Good fortune.
A flat rock gives the goose a place to eat at ease before it moves on. Ask whether you have allowed yourself to enjoy the ground you have already reached.
Line 3 九三
鴻漸于陸，夫征不復，婦孕不育，凶；利禦寇。
The wild goose moves by degrees to dry land. The husband goes on campaign and does not return. The wife conceives and does not bear. Misfortune. It is fitting to fend off raiders.
The goose is out of its element on dry land, and the old text tells of a household broken by war. Without reading anything about your own family into this, consider where pushing forward has left something undefended.
Line 4 六四
鴻漸于木，或得其桷，无咎。
The wild goose moves by degrees to the trees. Perhaps it gets a branch like a rafter. No blame.
A goose's webbed feet cannot grip a round branch, so it needs a flat one to rest on. Ask what stable footing you could look for in a place not built for you.
Line 5 九五
鴻漸于陵，婦三歲不孕，終莫之勝，吉。
The wild goose moves by degrees to the high mound. For three years the wife does not conceive. In the end nothing overcomes her. Good fortune.
The goose has reached high ground after a long climb. The old image of a wife's three childless years says nothing about any real family, so ask only what long stretch without visible result you could stay with.
Line 6 上九
鴻漸于陸，其羽可用為儀，吉。
The wild goose moves by degrees to dry land. Its feathers can be used for ceremony. Good fortune.
Feathers left by the goose could serve at a ceremony after it has flown. Ask what you have learned along the way that someone else could put to use.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is mountain below and wind above. The upper trigram also stands for wood, so the picture is a tree growing slowly on a mountain. The six lines follow a wild goose as it moves by stages from the riverbank up to high ground.
The judgment draws on old marriage customs, in which a bride went to her new home through a series of set stages. It calls this good fortune and tells the reader to hold firm. Ask which step in your own plans you are tempted to skip.
If your question is about a career, a slowly growing relationship or a long project, tradition reads this as a time to let each stage settle before the next. The third line is a caution about pressing on into a place where you cannot protect what you left behind.
A hexagram is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
Where this text comes from
The Chinese follows the Wikisource text of the Zhou Yi (its page for this hexagram, 周易/漸), compared with the Project Gutenberg edition. The Great Image comes from the Wikisource page 周易/大象.
- Wikisource, 周易
Retrieved 2026-11-08
- Project Gutenberg eBook 25501, 易經
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Read this hexagram with its traditional commentaries in our library.
Where the sources differ
- In line 九三, Wikisource (A) writes 利禦寇 and Project Gutenberg (B) writes 利御寇. Both mean to fend off raiders here.
- In line 上九, Wikisource (A) reads 鴻漸于陸 (the goose moves to dry land). Project Gutenberg (B) reads 鴻漸于逵 (the goose moves to the thoroughfare).
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.