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Hexagram 25 — Sui, Following
Chronological no. 25 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 17 · 隨
By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026
the youngest daughter
the eldest son
In the midst of the Lake, Thunder: the image of following. The movement that rumbles in the depths lets itself be carried by what surrounds it rather than forcing its own path — it follows the contour of the lake instead of breaking it. This is the figure of adapting to another's rhythm. Thus the noble one, at dusk, returns home to rest: to follow is not to submit, it is to recognize the moment when action must yield to rest, as day yields to night.
To follow the movement of time requires descending again to dig the source. One cannot follow lastingly without returning, now and then, to what nourishes the movement itself. This line teaches that the truest adaptation is not the most mobile, but the one that knows how to return to its own origin before setting off again.
The six lines
At the base of the earth, fullness stirs: the yang onset that carried the whole figure now yields its place.
The receptive earth reaches its fullness: the silent welcome that carried the lower figure is about to assert itself.
At the threshold between earth and man, suppleness gathers weight: what once yielded by nature is about to harden.
In the action of man, fullness meets its limit: the initiative that led the figure folds back upon itself.
At the sage's seat, fullness hollows out: the force that governed the figure from its center is about to invert.
At the summit, emptiness reaches its fullest extent and closes: the furthest opening turns toward its opposite.
Source: La Livrée d'Hermès, Anibal Amiot — chapter 7.1 (pp. 63–68). French version of this page.
For the notions used here — magic square, layer and casting, the Yi Jing — see the project lexicon.
The patterns of this hexagram
Eight 12×12 Jacquard patterns are generated from this hexagram, one for each admissible family of the system. Each has its own page: cell, tiling, recolourings and data.
Bases — YANG mutant
Bases — YANG
Pair of two — YANG + YIN mutant
Pair of two — YIN mutant + YANG mutant
Pair of two — YIN + YANG
Pair of two — YIN + YANG mutant
Triple — without YANG
Triple — without YANG mutant
Neighbouring hexagrams
24 — Cui, Gathering Together · 26 — Kun, Oppression
Hexagrams sharing a trigram
Same upper trigram (☱ Dui): 24 — Cui, Gathering Together · 26 — Kun, Oppression · 27 — Dui, The Joyous · 28 — Xian, Influence · 29 — Ge, Revolution · 30 — Da Guo, Preponderance of the Great · 31 — Guai, Breakthrough
Same lower trigram (☳ Zhen): 1 — Fu, Return · 9 — Zhen, The Arousing · 17 — Zhun, Difficulty at the Beginning · 33 — Yi, Nourishment · 41 — Shi He, Biting Through · 49 — Yi, Increase · 57 — Wu Wang, Innocence
