SIX LINES
The Dance Class
䷐

Hexagram 17

隨

Suí

Following

The Dance Class — Edgar Degas, 1874

In a Paris Opera rehearsal room, young dancers position themselves before their ballet master. Edgar Degas painted this scene in 1874, capturing the moment when students adjust their posture, waiting for correction. The elderly instructor leans on his staff, observing. One dancer practices at the barre while others rest or stretch—bodies learning to replicate movements demonstrated again and again.

Read full treatise ↓

This is Suí (隨), Following. The hexagram shows Lake (Duì) above Thunder (Zhèn)—joyful expression resting over arousing movement. In Zhou Dynasty divination practice, this configuration appeared when someone needed to align themselves with a teacher, a seasonal change, or a larger pattern already in motion. The lake follows the contours of the land beneath it; thunder's energy moves through the dancer's body as learned form. Following here means adaptation, not submission—the way water follows gravity while remaining itself. Degas painted over 1,500 works featuring ballet dancers during his career, documenting the Paris Opera's rehearsal rooms. This painting shows young dancers receiving instruction from their ballet master, practicing movements that they must learn to replicate. The scene captures the relationship between teacher and students inherent to classical ballet training. The Judgment text addresses the rehearsal room directly: "Following has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. No blame." The dancers follow their master's instruction because they seek what he possesses—technique refined over decades. But the text adds a condition: following must be voluntary and have direction. Ancient diviners understood that proper following requires discernment about whom or what to follow. The ballet master earned his authority through mastery; the students choose to follow because they recognize authentic skill. The Image Text observes: "Thunder in the middle of the lake: the image of Following. Thus the superior man at nightfall goes indoors for rest and recuperation." Even committed following has natural limits—night follows day, rest follows exertion. Degas painted dancers at practice, not performance, showing the private work of alignment that happens away from the public eye. In the I-Ching's sequence, Following comes after Enthusiasm: after the initial excitement of beginning, the student settles into the patient repetition that builds skill. The next hexagram is Work on What Has Been Spoiled—when following becomes mere imitation without understanding, corruption enters.

Upper Trigram

☱

兌 Duì

Lake — Joyous

ElementMetalDirectionSouthwestFamilyYoungest DaughterQualitiesjoyful, reflective, collecting

Lower Trigram

☳

震 Zhèn

Thunder — Arousing

ElementWoodDirectionNorthwestFamilyEldest SonQualitiesarousing, movement, shocking

Classical Texts

The Judgment

Supreme success. Perseverance furthers. No blame. To gain followers, first learn to follow. To lead, first serve. Only by adapting to others do you earn their joyful support.

The Lines

Line 1

Standards change. Perseverance brings good fortune. Going out and engaging with others yields results. Something shifts in the rules; stay true to principle while adapting to the change.

Line 2

If you cling to the small child, you lose the strong man. Attachment to the lesser means forfeiting the greater. Choose carefully what you follow.

Line 3

If you cling to the strong man, you lose the small child. Following has gains—but always costs. What you seek, you find. Settle into what you've chosen.

Line 4

Following brings gain. Perseverance brings misfortune. But if you remain sincere and clear about your path—what blame? Success through following can corrupt if you lose your own direction.

Line 5

Sincere in the excellent. Good fortune. When your allegiance aligns with what's genuinely good, fortune follows naturally.

Line 6

Bound and tied, then truly committed. The king makes offerings at Western Mountain. The deepest following requires being held fast first—then the connection becomes sacred.

Yilin: Forest of Changes

From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 17 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.

Yilin artwork for Hexagram 17
鳥鳴東西，迎其群侶；不得自專，空返獨還。

Birds call east and west, welcoming their flock; unable to act on their own, they return alone and empty.

Read full commentary ↓

Thunder rests within the lake, and a bird calls east and west, seeking its flock. Yet it cannot take the lead on its own terms and returns alone, empty-handed. This is Following turning upon itself — the hexagram doubled, Sui meeting Sui. The bird embodies the follower who longs for community but lacks the initiative to form it: calling in all directions, it waits for others to gather rather than establishing a rallying point. From Following to Following, the lesson is recursive: pure adaptiveness without anchor becomes aimless. One who only follows can never convene; the flock the bird seeks will never assemble around a voice that offers no direction.

中文注释

澤中有雷，鳥鳴東西，四處呼喚同伴。然不得自專，無法主導聚合，空返獨還——獨自歸來，一無所獲。此為隨遇隨——本卦重疊。鳥即純粹追隨者之化身：渴望群體卻無自立之能，四方呼喚而不設集結之點。從隨至隨，教訓自反：純粹之順從若無錨定之處，便成漫無目的之漂泊。唯隨不立者永不能召集同行；鳥所尋之群伴，絕不會聚攏於一個無所指引的聲音周圍。

Transformations

Hexagram 17 transforming into each of the 64 hexagrams, with Yilin verses.

䷀1䷁2䷂3䷃4䷄5䷅6䷆7䷇8䷈9䷉10䷊11䷋12䷌13䷍14䷎15䷏16䷐17䷑18䷒19䷓20䷔21䷕22䷖23䷗24䷘25䷙26䷚27䷛28䷜29䷝30䷞31䷟32䷠33䷡34䷢35䷣36䷤37䷥38䷦39䷧40䷨41䷩42䷪43䷫44䷬45䷭46䷮47䷯48䷰49䷱50䷲51䷳52䷴53䷵54䷶55䷷56䷸57䷹58䷺59䷻60䷼61䷽62䷾63䷿64

Related Hexagrams

Same upper trigram: Lake (兌)

䷛大過Great Exceeding䷞咸Influence䷪夬Breakthrough䷬萃Gathering Together䷮困Oppression䷰革Revolution䷹兌The Joyous Lake

Same lower trigram: Thunder (震)

䷂屯Difficulty at the Beginning䷔噬嗑Biting Through䷗復Return䷘无妄Innocence䷚頤Nourishment䷩益Increase䷲震The Arousing Thunder䷽小過Small Exceeding
← Hexagram 16AllHexagram 18 →