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Hexagram 52 — Jian, Development
Chronological no. 52 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 53 · 漸
By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026
the eldest daughter
the youngest son
On the mountain, a tree: the image of gradual development. The tree grows slowly, root after root, ring after ring, never skipping a single stage of its growth — a patience written into the wood itself. Thus the noble one establishes himself in worthy virtue and improves the ways of the world: true development, like that of the tree on the slope, is measured in years, not days.
Root, trunk, branch — one step after another straightens the axis. No authentic growth skips a stage: each degree prepares the next, in an order that nothing can reverse without compromising everything. This line says the patience of gradual development is itself a form of strength.
The six lines
At the base of the earth, emptiness closes over: what was still an opening begins to fill.
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, force wavers: what acted through firmness hesitates before turning.
In the listening of man, the hollow fills: the openness that received is about to assert 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, fullness completes its course and breaks: what had culminated cannot go further without turning back.
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 11 — Gui Mei, The Marrying Maiden (63 − 52 = 11): its patterns have exactly the same shape, only their colours are permuted. Here are the eight patterns of hexagram 11, one for each admissible family.
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
51 — Zhong Fu, Inner Truth · 53 — Jia Ren, The Family
Hexagrams sharing a trigram
Same upper trigram (☴ Xun): 48 — Guan, Contemplation · 49 — Yi, Increase · 50 — Huan, Dispersion · 51 — Zhong Fu, Inner Truth · 53 — Jia Ren, The Family · 54 — Xun, The Gentle, Wind · 55 — Xiao Chu, The Taming Power of the Small
Same lower trigram (☶ Gen): 4 — Qian, Modesty · 12 — Xiao Guo, Preponderance of the Small · 20 — Jian, Obstruction · 28 — Xian, Influence · 36 — Gen, Keeping Still · 44 — Lu, The Wanderer · 60 — Dun, Retreat
