Yi Jing · Chinese tarot
The Wanderer
Hexagram 56 of the Yi Jing · 旅 Lǚ
The figure
Fire above the Mountain: fire not lingering on the mountain, the passing flame. The image of the wanderer, of the stranger on the way.
What this figure illuminates
The Wanderer lights up situations of passage, where you are passing through without anchorage. Rightness here lies in measure: neither imposing as if at home, nor losing yourself — staying yourself, light and attentive.
For a decision, the figure invites the right distance: “in this situation where I'm not at home, how do I stay dignified and prudent without rooting where I'm only passing?”.
The classical text
The Judgment
The wanderer: in small things, some progress. Let the stranger be firm and correct, and there is good fortune.
The Image
Fire on the mountain, passing quickly on, resting nowhere. Seeing this, the noble person is careful and clear in penalties, and does not let disputes drag on.
The Six Lines
- First line
A traveller who fusses over petty things, small and mean in a strange place — and so draws trouble on themselves.
- Second line
The stranger reaches a proper lodging, keeps their means safe, and has faithful help. Modest security on the road.
- Third line
The traveller burns down their own lodging and loses their helpers — overreaching where they are only a guest. However correct, the position is perilous.
- Fourth line
You find a resting-place, means, even the means to defend yourself — yet your heart is not at ease. A shelter is not a home.
- Fifth line
You aim at the pheasant and spend an arrow to win it — a small loss for a lasting gain. In the end, honor and trust.
- Sixth line
The bird burns its own nest — the wanderer, careless in a place not theirs, laughs, then weeps. Losing your footing too lightly: misfortune.
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
In what is only a passage, how do you stay right without rooting?
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