Hexagram 33: 遯 ()
遯
· Legge: Thun
Lower trigram ☶ 艮 (Mountain), upper trigram ☰ 乾 (Heaven)
Judgment
亨。小利貞。
Thun indicates successful progress (in its circumstances). To a small extent it will (still) be advantageous to be firm and correct.
Commentary on the judgment (彖傳)
遯亨，遯而亨也。剛當位而應，與時行也。小利貞，浸而長也。遯之時義大矣哉！
The image (大象)
天下有山，遯；君子以遠小人，不惡而嚴。
The six lines
| Line | Chinese | Legge | Changes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 — | 肥遯，无不利。 | The sixth line, undivided, shows its subject retiring in a noble way. It will be advantageous in every respect. | 31 |
| 5 — | 嘉遯，貞吉。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject retiring in an admirable way. With firm correctness there will be good fortune. | 56 |
| 4 — | 好遯君子吉，小人否。 | The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject retiring notwithstanding his likings. In a superior man this will lead to good fortune; a small man cannot attain to this. | 53 |
| 3 — | 係遯，有疾厲，畜臣妾吉。 | The third line, undivided, shows one retiring but bound,—to his distress and peril. (If he were to deal with his binders as in) nourishing a servant or concubine, it would be fortunate for him. | 12 |
| 2 – – | 執之用黃牛之革，莫之勝說。 | The second line, divided, shows its subject holding (his purpose) fast as if by a (thong made from the) hide of a yellow ox, which cannot be broken. | 44 |
| 1 – – | 遯尾，厲，勿用有攸往。 | The first line, divided, shows a retiring tail. The position is perilous. No movement in any direction should be made. | 13 |
Lines are numbered from the bottom. Each line page shows the line text with its small image commentary; each “changes to” link opens the reading for that changing line.
Related hexagrams
- Inverse (lines in reverse order): hexagram 34
- Opposite (every line changed): hexagram 19 · reading
- Nuclear (lines 2–4 and 3–5): hexagram 44
English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 16 (1882) — public domain; OCR text of the 1882 printing, checked against the proofread hexagrams. Chinese: Zhou Yi from Chinese Wikisource.
Character glossary
- 亨hēngprospering, going smoothly
- 小xiǎosmall, tiny, insignificant
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 貞zhēnvirtuous, chaste, pure; loyal
- 遯dùndeceive, hide, conceal; flee; hexagram ䷠
- 尾wěitail; extremity, end; back, rear
- 厲lìwhetstone; to grind, to sharpen, to whet
- 勿wùmust not, do not; without, never
- 用yòngto use, to employ, to apply; use
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 攸yōudistant, far; adverbial prefix
- 往wǎngto go, to depart; past, former
- 執zhíto execute; to grasp, to hold; to keep;
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 黃huángyellow; surname
- 牛niúox, cow, bull
- 革géleather, animal hide; to reform; to remo
- 莫mòcannot; do not; is not; negative
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
- 說shuōto speak, to say; to scold, to upbraid
- 係xìsystem; line, link, connection
- 疾jísickness, illness, disease; to envy, to
- 畜chùlivestock, domestic animals
- 臣chénminister, statesman, official, vassal
- 妾qièconcubine
- 吉jílucky, propitious, good
- 好hǎogood, excellent, fine; proper, suitable;
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 人rénman, person; people
- 否fǒuno, not, un-; final particle
- 嘉jiāexcellent; joyful; auspicious
- 肥féifat, plump, obese; fertile
- 无wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.