Also known as Retreat, Withdrawal, Yielding Ground.
The character 遯 means to withdraw or slip away. Hexagram 33 is about retreat as a strategy, not a defeat. When opposing forces are rising, the wise move is to step back in good order, keep your strength and wait for a better time.
The figure
Heaven over Mountain. The mountain rises, and heaven draws back from it. Two broken lines push up from the bottom, so the weaker forces are gaining, and the strong lines above withdraw before them.
The judgment
Withdrawing goes through. A small gain in holding.
Retreating now is the successful move. Small, steady actions still pay. A big confrontation does not.
The image
The mountain reaching up and the sky pulling further away. Keep the small-minded at a distance, without rudeness and without softening.
Step back from people who drag things down, but don't be hostile about it. Keep your dignity and your distance.
The six lines
Counted from the bottom, the way the figure is built when you cast it.
- Line 1, at the bottom. At the tail end of the retreat. Dangerous. Don't try to do anything. You've left it late, so keep still.
- Line 2. Tied down with yellow ox leather, so no one can work them free. A person who holds to what's right can't be pulled away.
- Line 3. A retreat held back by ties. Stressful and dangerous. Keeping staff and helpers close goes well, but they aren't the ones to plan with.
- Line 4. Withdrawing by choice. It goes well for the person of character, and a fall for the petty one. Leave with grace and you lose nothing.
- Line 5. A friendly retreat, well timed and courteous. Holding steady goes well.
- Line 6, at the top. A cheerful retreat, free of doubt. Everything helps. You leave with no ties and no regrets.
Reading it for a question
Hexagram 33 says step back now. It isn't giving up. Withdraw on your own terms, stay polite, keep your resources and pick a better moment.