巽

I Ching trigram · 5 of 8

Xùn ☴ Wind 巽 · The Gentle: wind, influence and steady progress that gets in everywhere

Xùn is one yin line beneath two yang lines, like wind that slips through every gap or roots that work their way into the ground. It stands for gentle but persistent influence, adaptability and progress made little by little.

Yin trigram
Element: Wood
Season: Late spring into early summer
Doubled: hexagram 57

Element

Wood 木

Direction

South-east

Family

Eldest daughter 长女

Quality

Penetrating 入

Animal

Rooster 鸡

Body

Thighs 股

The lines of Xùn

Yang Top line · heaven

Yang Middle line · humanity

Yin Bottom line · earth · ruling line

Xùn has a broken yin line at the bottom and two solid yang lines above. The soft line at the base lets it enter and penetrate, while the firm lines above carry it forward.

In the three sons and three daughters, the single line that differs from the others is the ruling line. In Xùn it is the bottom line, so Xùn is the eldest daughter.

What Xùn means

Xùn is both wind and wood. Its quality in the Discussion of the Trigrams (说卦传) is 入 (rù), to enter or penetrate. Wind cannot be seen, yet it bends the grass and shapes whole landscapes, and roots grow so gradually that they can split rock. Xùn's power is gentle, but it never stops.

As the eldest daughter, Xùn is linked with tact, diplomacy, communication and trade. The commentary even says that Xùn is “close to gain”, making a threefold profit in the market. hexagram 57, The Gentle (Wind) advises that influence works best when it is consistent and repeated, like winds that follow one another in the same direction.

In the Later Heaven arrangement Xùn stands in the south-east, at the turn from spring to summer when growth is at its fullest. The commentary says that all things are brought to completion in Xùn (齐乎巽).

随风，巽；君子以申命行事。
Winds following one upon the other: the image of the gently penetrating. The noble person spreads their commands and carries out their undertakings.
The Image of hexagram 57, The Gentle (Wind)

Xùn in your birth hexagram

With Xùn in your birth hexagram, you tend to win people over rather than overpower them. Xùn people are flexible, perceptive and persuasive, and they often achieve more through patience and quiet persistence than others do by force.

Strengths

Diplomatic and tactful
Adaptable and open-minded
A persuasive communicator
Patient, steady progress
A good instinct for trade and opportunity

Watch out for

Can be indecisive or changeable
Bends too easily to others
Avoids direct confrontation
May scatter energy in many directions
Influence can slide into manipulation

Find your own trigrams. The free Birth Destiny calculator works out your birth hexagram and its two trigrams from your date and time of birth.

Xùn as the lower and upper trigram

Every hexagram has a lower trigram for the inner situation and an upper trigram for the outer world. Xùn reads a little differently in each place.

Below: the inner world

As the lower trigram, Xùn shows an inner attitude of gentleness, openness and quiet determination. In hexagram 32, Duration it gives lasting commitment beneath thunder, and in hexagram 48, The Well it is the wooden bucket that draws water up from the well.

Above: the outer world

As the upper trigram, Xùn describes an environment that responds to gentle influence. In hexagram 20, Contemplation wind blows across the earth and people look up to a good example, and in hexagram 61, Inner Truth wind moves over the lake, an image of sincerity that reaches even the hardest hearts.

The 15 hexagrams that contain Xùn

Xùn appears in 15 of the 64 hexagrams: eight with Wind below and eight with Wind above, with hexagram 57, The Gentle (Wind) counted in both lists. Click any hexagram to read its meaning.

Wind ☴ as the lower trigram
No.	Hexagram	Upper over lower	Theme
18	Repairing Decay	Mountain over Wind	Repair, reform, inheritance
28	Great Exceeding	Lake over Wind	Great pressure, extraordinary measures
32	Duration	Thunder over Wind	Endurance, commitment, constancy
44	Coming to Meet	Heaven over Wind	Encounter, temptation, influence
46	Pushing Upward	Earth over Wind	Rising, steady growth, effort
48	The Well	Water over Wind	Resource, service, depth
50	The Cauldron	Fire over Wind	Transformation, culture, nourishment
57	The Gentle (Wind)	Wind over Wind	Gentle penetration, persistence, persuasion

Wind ☴ as the upper trigram
No.	Hexagram	Upper over lower	Theme
9	Small Taming	Wind over Heaven	Small restraint, gentle influence
20	Contemplation	Wind over Earth	Observation, perspective, example
37	The Family	Wind over Fire	Family, roles, home
42	Increase	Wind over Thunder	Increase, benefit, generosity
53	Gradual Development	Wind over Mountain	Gradual progress, patience, proper process
57	The Gentle (Wind)	Wind over Wind	Gentle penetration, persistence, persuasion
59	Dispersion	Wind over Water	Dispersal, dissolving, reconnection
61	Inner Truth	Wind over Lake	Inner truth, sincerity, trust

Symbols and correspondences

The Discussion of the Trigrams links Xùn with wood and wind, the eldest daughter, the plumb line, work, white, length and height, advancing and retreating, indecision and scent, and people who are close to gain.

Lines (bottom to top)	yin, yang, yang
Name	巽 Xùn, The Gentle
Image in nature	Wind
Quality	Penetrating (入)
Yin or yang	Yin trigram
Five element	Wood (木)
Family member	Eldest daughter (长女)
Later Heaven direction	South-east
Early Heaven direction	South-west
Season	Late spring into early summer
Animal	Rooster (鸡)
Part of the body	Thighs (股)
Early Heaven number	5
Later Heaven (Luo Shu) number	4
Opposite trigram	☳ Zhèn, Thunder
Doubled hexagram	hexagram 57, The Gentle (Wind)
Feng shui life area	Wealth and abundance
Kua number	4 (East group)

Xùn in feng shui

On the Later Heaven bagua Xùn governs the south-east, best known as the wealth and abundance corner and traditionally linked to the eldest daughter. Its element is Wood, supported by green and purple tones, lush plants and gently moving water. In the Eight Mansions system, people with a kua number of 4 belong to Xùn and the East group.

Tips for the south-east

Place a healthy, round-leafed plant in the south-east
Add a small water feature, since Water nourishes Wood
Keep the corner clutter-free so energy can flow

More about the five elements →

Xùn questions, answered

What does Xùn mean in the I Ching?

Xùn (巽) means wind, wood or the gentle. It has one yin line beneath two yang lines and stands for gentle influence, adaptability, communication and the eldest daughter. Doubled, it forms hexagram 57, The Gentle.

Why is Xùn both wind and wood?

Both work the same way: gently, invisibly and persistently. Wind gets into every gap and roots slowly push through the soil, so the I Ching uses one trigram for both. In the five elements Xùn belongs to Wood.

Which hexagrams contain Xùn?

Xùn appears in 15 of the 64 hexagrams. It is both trigrams in hexagram 57, The Gentle (Wind). It is the lower trigram in hexagrams 18, 28, 32, 44, 46, 48 and 50, and the upper trigram in hexagrams 9, 20, 37, 42, 53, 59 and 61.

What element and direction is Xùn?

Xùn belongs to the Wood element. In the Later Heaven (King Wen) arrangement used in feng shui it sits in the south-east, and in the Early Heaven (Fu Xi) arrangement it sits in the south-west.