Yi Jing · Chinese tarot
Following
Hexagram 17 of the Yi Jing · 随 Suí
The figure
The Lake above Thunder: joy following movement, water shaping itself to the impulse. The image of what adapts and accompanies.
What this figure illuminates
Following lights up the art of adjusting to the moment rather than imposing your own. To follow is not to submit: it is to recognize what deserves to be accompanied, and to do it freely.
For a decision, the figure questions what you follow: “am I adjusting to what is right, or letting myself be carried by habit, by comfort?”.
The classical text
The Judgment
Following brings great progress. Hold to what is correct, and there is no error.
The Image
Thunder lies at rest within the lake. Seeing this, the noble person goes indoors and rests when evening comes.
The Six Lines
- First line
The standard you follow shifts. Stay correct through the change, and good fortune; go out and mix openly, and you gain.
- Second line
You cling to the small and let the worthy go. Holding both is not possible — choose well.
- Third line
You hold to the worthy and let the small go. You find what you truly sought — remain steadfast.
- Fourth line
Others follow you and you gather a following — yet even upright, this is dangerous. Only sincerity, kept in plain sight, keeps you from blame.
- Fifth line
Sincere devotion to what is genuinely good. Good fortune.
- Sixth line
A loyalty held so fast it is bound and made lasting — honored like an offering on the sacred mountain.
Daoa's wording, written after the classical reference translations, now in the public domain: James Legge (1882) and Charles de Harlez (1889).
A question to keep
Does what you're following right now truly deserve it?
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