Transformation · lines 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6
Great Manifestation becomes Gradual Progress
What this change means
A tree grows on the Mountain as five lines move, leaving only the third still. That third line of 53 Gradual Progress carries the reading: try to rush things instead of letting them unfold at their own pace, and the progress will fail. The hexagram as a whole describes progress that comes step by step, through stages that make it stable and lasting. For a figure of great strength, the temptation is to accelerate. Resist it. Your power is better spent on steady climbing than on sprinting. Take one rung at a time, let each stage settle before the next, and trust that slow growth holds better than fast. Patience is the strength being asked for now. What grows slowly here tends to grow to stay.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 3 of 53 Gradual Progress, which stays still
If you don't let things unfold at their own pace and try to hurry them, your progress will fail.
The wild goose moves by degrees to the high plain. The husband marches off and does not return; the wife conceives and does not give birth. Misfortune. It is favorable to fend off raiders.
- The judgment of 34 Great Manifestation
You have what it takes to carry out big projects and achieve extraordinary things. Still, you need to stay active and keep persevering. Thinking and acting in harmony will keep you holding to what is right and will make your achievements last.
Constancy is favorable.
- Line 1 of 34 Great Manifestation
Despite your excellent qualities, some unfavorable situations still won't let you move forward. Don't push. Work through the obstacles one by one, and circumstances will give way in the end.
Strength in the toes. Setting out brings misfortune. There is sincere trust.
- Line 2 of 34 Great Manifestation
Circumstances are starting to open up and conditions keep getting better. Still, stay centered and keep persevering to get the results you want.
Constancy brings good fortune.
- Line 4 of 34 Great Manifestation
Adverse circumstances give way before your persistence. If you rely on your inner power, you'll be able to move toward great achievements.
Constancy brings good fortune. Regret vanishes. The fence gives way, and nothing tangles. Strength in the axle of the great cart.
- Line 5 of 34 Great Manifestation
This is a favorable moment when you can do without force and head toward your goals without haste or strain: the good wave will carry you to success.
Loses the ram at Yi. No regret.
- Line 6 of 34 Great Manifestation
If you push ahead without thinking and without taking in feedback, you reach a point that becomes a wall and blocks your way. Being aware of this before you go too far will let you change course.
A ram butts the fence: it can't go back, it can't go on. Nothing is favorable. Taking on the hardship: good fortune.
- The judgment of 53 Gradual Progress
You'll make progress, and it will come step by step, gradually, through stages that make it lasting and stable. Trying to speed things up will bring delays and obstacles. Keep at it, one rung at a time.
The woman goes to be married: good fortune. Constancy is favorable.
The trigrams
The way back
53 Gradual Progress → 34 Great Manifestationlines 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6
Other transformations of Great Manifestation
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.