Transformation · lines 4 and 5
Gradual Progress becomes The Traveler
What this change means
Fire on the mountain: the fourth and fifth lines move, and the Wind above becomes Fire. The fifth leads, describing a time of isolation when hostile people stir up confusion around you and calm waiting is the best response. The fourth adds that events outside your control demand caution and careful responses until conditions improve. The resulting hexagram, 56 The Traveler, frames all this as a passage. You may be in unfamiliar territory, among new people or circumstances, where only small gains are possible. Keep a light, flexible attitude. Let go of attachments, be gracious as you make new connections, and don't try to settle everything at once. Like a traveler, look for safe lodging rather than conquest. The isolation tends to ease as you adapt, and the progress you carry with you isn't lost along the road.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 5 of 53 Gradual Progress
In the middle of your progress you're cut off, and hostile people stir up misunderstandings around you. All you can do is wait calmly for this to pass; it will pass on its own.
The wild goose moves by degrees to the hill. For three years the wife does not conceive; in the end nothing overcomes her. Good fortune.
- Line 4 of 53 Gradual Progress
In the middle of your progress, situations come up that are out of your control. Don't despair: act with caution and respond wisely to these obstacles. That way you'll stay safe while conditions improve.
The wild goose moves by degrees to the tree. Perhaps it finds a flat branch. No fault.
- 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 judgment of 56 The Traveler
It's a time of small achievements. Keep a light, flexible attitude. You may be facing a period of change, new places or situations that ask you to adapt while they settle: let go of attachments and be gracious as you make new connections and your situation takes hold.
Small success. For the traveler, constancy brings good fortune.
The trigrams
The way back
56 The Traveler → 53 Gradual Progresslines 4 and 5
Other transformations of Gradual Progress
- 9Small Thingslines 1 and 2
- 42Increaselines 1 and 3
- 59Release from Obstacleslines 2 and 3
- 13Gathering with Equalslines 1 and 4
- 44Lack of Firmnesslines 2 and 4
- 12Declinelines 3 and 4
- 22Good Mannerslines 1 and 5
- 18Loss, Then Gainlines 2 and 5
- 23The Falllines 3 and 5
- 63After the Endlines 1 and 6
- 48Right Actionlines 2 and 6
- 8Unionlines 3 and 6
- 31Attractionlines 4 and 6
- 15Simplicitylines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.