Hexagram 53 — Infiltrating
King Wen #53 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
Gradual advance, like the wild goose nearing solid ground. Step by ordered step.
What Hexagram 53 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 53 places mountain (艮) beneath wind (巽) — stillness holding its ground below, gentle influence working inward above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Infiltrating”: gradual advance, like the wild goose nearing solid ground. Step by ordered step. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
山上有木，漸；君子以居賢德善俗。
(The trigram representing) a mountain and above it that for a tree form Kien. The superior man, in accordance with this, attains to and maintains his extraordinary virtue, and makes the manners of the people good.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Trees grow on the mountain: gradual progress. The wise dwell in worthy character and improve the customs around them.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 53 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Infiltrating describes gradual advance, like the wild goose nearing solid ground. Step by ordered step — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: stillness holding its ground, held inside a larger setting of gentle influence working inward. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Infiltrating about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: gradual advance, like the wild goose nearing solid ground. Step by ordered step. 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 53
What does 漸 (jiàn) mean?
Hexagram 53 of the I Ching is named 漸 (jiàn), usually rendered "Infiltrating" in English editions. Its figure is built from mountain (艮) below and wind (巽) above — stillness holding its ground beneath gentle influence working inward.
Is hexagram 53 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 53 is warm: it contains 4 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 53 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Infiltrating points to gradual advance, like the wild goose nearing solid ground. Step by ordered step. The figure pairs mountain (艮) beneath wind (巽) — stillness holding its ground meeting gentle influence working inward — 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 53 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Infiltrating through the figure itself: mountain (艮) below, wind (巽) above — stillness holding its ground held inside gentle influence working inward. The plain reading: Gradual advance, like the wild goose nearing solid ground. Step by ordered step. The text carries 4 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 53 mean?
A cast of hexagram 53 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 53 gives hexagram 54, 歸妹 (Converting the Maiden). 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 53 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 53 gives hexagram 54 — 歸妹 (Converting the Maiden). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 54 — 歸妹 (Converting the Maiden). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 64 — 未濟 (Not Yet Fording).
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
女歸吉，利貞。
Jian suggests to us the marriage of a young lady, and the good fortune (attending it). There will be advantage in being firm and correct.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
鴻漸于干；小子厲，有言，無咎。
The first SIX, divided, shows the wild geese gradually approaching the shore. A young officer (in similar circumstances) will be in a position of danger, and be spoken against; but there will be no error.
鴻漸于磐，飲食衎衎，吉。
The second SIX, divided, shows the geese gradually approaching the large rocks, where they eat and drink joyfully and at ease. There will be good fortune.
鴻漸于陸，夫征不復，婦孕不育，凶；利禦寇。
The third NINE, undivided, shows them gradually advanced to the dry plains. (It suggests also the idea of) a husband who goes on an expedition from which he does not return, and of a wife who is pregnant, but will not nourish her child. There will be evil. (The case symbolised) might be advantageous in resisting plunderers.
鴻漸于木，或得其桷，無咎。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows the geese gradually advanced to the trees. They may light on the flat branches. There will be no error.
鴻漸于陵，婦三歲不孕；終莫之勝，吉。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows the geese gradually advanced to the high mound. (It suggests the idea of) a wife who for three years does not become pregnant; but in the end the natural issue cannot be prevented. There will be good fortune.
鴻漸于陸，其羽可用為儀，吉。
The sixth NINE, undivided, shows the geese gradually advanced to the large heights (beyond). Their feathers can be used as ornaments. There will be good fortune.
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.