Hexagram 17 — Following
King Wen #17 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
Following. Adapt to what is right in the moment; success comes by serving, not commanding.
What Hexagram 17 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 17 places thunder (震) beneath lake (兑) — movement breaking out of stillness below, joy lifting what it touches above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Following”: following. Adapt to what is right in the moment; success comes by serving, not commanding. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
澤中有雷，隨；君子以嚮晦入宴息。
(The trigram for the waters of) a marsh and (that for) thunder (hidden) in the midst of it form Sui. The superior man in accordance with this, when it is getting towards dark, enters (his house) and rests.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Thunder rests within the marsh: following. The wise, as dusk comes on, go in and rest.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 17 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Following describes following. Adapt to what is right in the moment; success comes by serving, not commanding — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: movement breaking out of stillness, held inside a larger setting of joy lifting what it touches. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Following about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: following. Adapt to what is right in the moment; success comes by serving, not commanding. When lines move in your cast, read them against this base — the moving lines show which part of the figure is awake for you, and the changed hexagram shows where it is heading.
Questions About Hexagram 17
What does 隨 (suí) mean?
Hexagram 17 of the I Ching is named 隨 (suí), usually rendered "Following" in English editions. Its figure is built from thunder (震) below and lake (兑) above — movement breaking out of stillness beneath joy lifting what it touches.
Is hexagram 17 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 17 is warm: it contains 2 occurrences of 吉 (good fortune), 1 of 凶 (misfortune), and 2 of 無咎 (no blame). The classical verdict is broadly favourable — with the lines' own conditions attached.
What does hexagram 17 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Following points to following. Adapt to what is right in the moment; success comes by serving, not commanding. The figure pairs thunder (震) beneath lake (兑) — movement breaking out of stillness meeting joy lifting what it touches — which is the traditional picture of how this energy behaves between two people. For how to phrase a love question before casting, see our guide to asking the I Ching about love.
What does hexagram 17 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Following through the figure itself: thunder (震) below, lake (兑) above — movement breaking out of stillness held inside joy lifting what it touches. The plain reading: Following. Adapt to what is right in the moment; success comes by serving, not commanding. The text carries 2 mentions of 吉 (good fortune) and 1 of 凶 (misfortune), so it is read as workable — provided the conduct the lines describe is kept.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 17 mean?
A cast of hexagram 17 can produce moving lines. Each of the six lines has its own statement (爻辭) in the classical text below, read from the bottom up, and a moving line is read as the part of the figure that is awake for your question. When a line moves it turns into its opposite, and the whole figure becomes a second hexagram: changing every line of 17 gives hexagram 18, 蠱 (Correcting). Every line also has a page of its own on this site — Line 1 through Line 6 under this hexagram — with the classical Chinese and Legge's translation side by side.
How is hexagram 17 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 17 gives hexagram 18 — 蠱 (Correcting). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 18 — 蠱 (Correcting). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 53 — 漸 (Infiltrating).
Cast it yourself
Shake the tube, watch your own coins fall.
- The hexagram's classical meaning — judgment and all six lines
- Moving lines marked — but not read for you
- No account, no email, nothing to pay
Get the reading, not just the text
Same cast, read all the way through:
- Every line read for you — what each moving line means inside your question
- The changed hexagram — where your situation is heading, and how to read the turn
- A closing that answers you directly — act, wait, or say it out loud
New to casting? How it works · All 64 hexagrams
Related Hexagrams 錯綜互
The Classical Text 經文
元亨，利貞，無咎。
Sui indicates that (under its conditions) there will be great progress and success. But it will be advantageous to be firm and correct. There will (then) be no error.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
官有渝，貞吉；出門交有功。
The first NINE, undivided, shows us one changing the object of his pursuit; but if he be firm and correct, there will he good fortune. Going beyond (his own) gate to find associates, he will achieve merit.
系小子，失丈夫。
The second SIX, divided, shows us one who cleaves to the little boy, and lets go the man of age and experience.
系丈夫，失小子；隨有求得，利居貞。
The third SIX, divided, shows us one who cleaves to the man of age and experience, and lets go. the little boy. Such following will get what it seeks; but it will be advantageous to adhere to what is firm and correct.
隨有獲，貞凶；有孚在道，以明，何咎？
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows us one followed and obtaining (adherents). Though he be firm and correct, there will be evil. If he be sincere (however) in his course, and make that evident, into what error will he fall?
孚于嘉，吉。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows us (the ruler) sincere in (fostering all) that is excellent. There will be good fortune.
拘繫之，乃從維之；王用亨于西山。
The topmost SIX, divided, shows us (that sincerity) firmly held and clung to, yea, and bound fast. (We see) the king with it presenting his offerings on the western mountain.
Line by Line 逐爻细读
1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text.2 The Image (象傳) is an ancient text in the public domain; its plain-English gloss here is original to The Hexagrams, not a quotation from any copyrighted edition. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.