Hexagram 33 · Lower canon
Dun · Retreat
Stepping back is to keep yourself.
The figure
- Number
- 33 (Lower canon)
- Upper trigram
- Heaven (Qian)
- Lower trigram
- Mountain (Gen)
- Keywords
- withdrawal · preserving · dignity
- Reversed hexagram
- Lin · Approach
- Inverted hexagram
- Da Zhuang · Great Power
The meaning
What the name means Dun is withdrawing, getting out of the way.
The picture Heaven above, mountain below: the mountain rising, heaven drawing back, further and further.
The sense of the whole The whole hexagram is about retreating in time. When the situation is wrong there is no need to hold out; step back with dignity and keep your strength. Retreat is not defeat, it is for the next step.
In plain words: what this hexagram says
Stepping back is wise now. No need to fight; leave with dignity and keep your strength.
The upper trigram is Heaven and the lower is Mountain: Heaven above, Mountain below. When you read it, first picture the two together as a scene, then set it against the original below. The plain words speak only of stance and do not foretell.
The judgement
亨，小利貞。
The image
天下有山，遁；君子以遠小人，不惡而嚴。
The six lines
From the bottom up, the first line is the lowest. When you cast this hexagram and a line is changing, read the matching one. The original is classical Chinese.
- 初六遁尾，厲，勿用有攸往。
- 六二執之用黃牛之革，莫之勝說。
- 九三系遁，有疾厲，畜臣妾吉。
- 九四好遁，君子吉，小人否。
- 九五嘉遁，貞吉。
- 上九肥遁，無不利。
To learn how to read a hexagram, see "How to read a hexagram"; for changing lines, see "Changing lines and the resulting hexagram".