Retiring (33)
6
5
4
3
The Judgement
RETREAT. Success.In what is small, perseverance furthers.
The Image
Mountain under heaven: the image of RETREAT.Thus the superior man keeps the inferior man at a distance,
Not angrily but with reserve.
Line Poems
- 6 - Cheerful retreat. Everything serves to further.
- 5 - Friendly retreat. Perseverance brings good fortune.
- 4 - Voluntary retreat brings good fortune to the superior man And downfall to the inferior man.
- 3 - A halted retreat Is nerve–wracking and dangerous. To retain people as men– and maidservants Brings good fortune.
- 2 - He holds him fast with yellow oxhide. No one can tear him loose.
- 1 - At the tail in retreat. This is dangerous. One must not wish to undertake anything.
Commentary
The power of the dark is ascending.The light retreats to security, so that the dark cannot encroach upon it.
This retreat is a matter not of man’s will but of natural law.
Therefore in this case withdrawal is proper; it is the correct way to behave in order not to exhaust one’s forces.
In the calendar this hexagram is linked with the sixth month (July–August), in which the forces of winter are already showing their influence.
