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Hexagram 36 — Gen, Keeping Still

Chronological no. 36 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 52 · 艮

By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026

Magic square / tiling associated with hexagram 36 (Keeping Still) — Tiling of the magic square associated with this hexagram, La Livrée d'Hermès.

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Upper trigram

Gen — Keeping Still, the Mountain
the youngest son

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Lower trigram

Gen — Keeping Still, the Mountain
the youngest son

Image

Keeping Still

Mountains joined together: the image of stillness. Two stable masses rest one upon the other, one reinforcing the stillness of the other — a halt that is not paralysis but foundation. This is the figure of rest that makes clarity possible. Thus the noble one lets no thought stray beyond the place he occupies: stopping in the right place, without letting the mind wander beyond the task at hand, is the condition for all true vision.

Judgement

Stability

Movement halts so that the essential may be seen. Only in stillness do certain things, masked by constant agitation, finally become visible. This line teaches that knowing how to stop is not renouncing action, it is giving oneself the means to see where to act truly.

The six lines

First line

At the base of the earth, emptiness closes over: what was still an opening begins to fill.

Second line

The receptive earth reaches its fullness: the silent welcome that carried the lower figure is about to assert itself.

Third line

At the threshold between earth and man, force wavers: what acted through firmness hesitates before turning.

Fourth line

In the listening of man, the hollow fills: the openness that received is about to assert itself.

Fifth line

At the sage's seat, emptiness fills: the suppleness that governed with discretion gathers a new force.

Sixth line

At the summit, fullness completes its course and breaks: what had culminated cannot go further without turning back.

Read the passage in the book (ch. 7.1) → See it on the interactive board → Create this hexagram's pattern →

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

This hexagram is the binary complement of hexagram 27 — Dui, The Joyous (63 − 36 = 27): its patterns have exactly the same shape, only their colours are permuted. Here are the eight patterns of hexagram 27, one for each admissible family.