The Wild Goose Goes Step by Step

Leap to the top, or go stage by stage? The last time you skipped a step, how did it go?

Original

漸：女歸吉，利貞。象曰：山上有木，漸。君子以居賢德善俗。九三：鴻漸于陸，夫征不復，婦孕不育，凶；利禦寇。上九：鴻漸于陸，其羽可用為儀，吉。

In plain words

Jian (Gradual Progress): a bride's marriage, done step by step, brings good fortune; it is good to stay steady. The Image says: a tree on the mountain: Gradual Progress. The noble person, seeing this, dwells in worthy virtue and improves local ways. Line 3: the wild goose advances to the plateau. The husband marches off and does not return; the wife conceives but does not give birth: misfortune. It is good for warding off raiders. Line 6: the wild goose advances to the plateau. Its feathers can be used in the rites: good fortune.

Key words

漸jiànGradual progress, one step at a time.
鴻hóngThe wild goose: keeps its seasons, flies in formation, stays with its mate.
儀yíRite, ceremony; also a model others can follow.

Reading it step by step

Small Gathering said: when the time hasn't come, work inward. And once it comes? Jian (Gradual Progress) gives a plain answer: go one step at a time.

First: why a goose? Every line of Jian uses 鸿, the wild goose. The ancients noticed three things about it: it leaves when the season turns and never misses the date; it flies in formation, with a leader and no jostling; and it stays with its mate for life. An ancient wedding began with the groom's family sending a goose to the bride's, so the judgment says “a bride's marriage brings good fortune”: a big thing done step by proper step. The Image adds “a tree on the mountain”: up there, out of reach of axes, a tree can grow at its own pace.

Second: six landing places, six lessons. The goose goes from the shore to a rock, to the plateau, to a tree, to the summit, and finally back to level ground. On the shore, line 1, the young face some danger and gossip, but it's fine to try. On the rock, line 2 eats and drinks in peace, because it is “not eating for nothing.” The only “misfortune” in the whole hexagram is line 3: on the plateau it wants to push on alone.

“The husband marches off and does not return”; the commentary says he has “left his flock.” Nothing at home bears fruit. That's the price of skipping a step. Line 4 reaches a tree, but a goose's webbed feet can't grip branches, so it finds a flat rafter: when the place doesn't fit, adapt. Line 5 reaches the summit; the good thing is late, “three years,” but in the end nothing can stop it.

shoreline 1 · no blame

rockline 2 · good

plateauline 3 · misfortune

treeline 4 · no blame

summitline 5 · good

back to level groundline 6 · good

The only misfortune: leaving the flock to skip ahead.

Third: the highest point is coming back to level ground. Line 6 has come to the end, yet again “advances to the plateau.” That's not going backwards. “Its feathers can be used in the rites”: it becomes the ornament of the ceremony, the pattern others line up by. Someone who has really finished a journey isn't the one standing highest, but the one who lets those behind see the way and the order.

Back to today. In year one of a new job, some people try to jump to year three: changing the process before they know it, leading people before they've found their feet. Some couples, a month in, are already talking about meeting parents and buying a flat. Jian doesn't say “go slowly.” It says “don't skip.” Each step teaches something only that step can. Ask yourself: am I on the shore, the rock or the plateau? Have I done this stop's homework?

Fly it stage by stage, and you reach the south.

One line to carry

Not slow, but no skipped steps.

Today's question

In something you're doing now, which landing place are you on? What homework is left at this stop?

Quick check

Jian's only “misfortune” is at line 3. What is it warning against?

Next pageFrost Underfoot, Ice AheadPage 14

II · When Something Begins — Hiding, sprouting, waiting, heading off conflict: going up step by step

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