Also known as Development, Gradual Progress, Infiltration.
The character 漸 shows water seeping slowly into something. Hexagram 53 is about gradual progress: things that grow step by step and last because they weren't rushed. Its old image is a traditional marriage, carried out in proper order, and a wild goose moving from the shore up to the clouds.
The figure
Wind over Mountain. Wind here is wood: a tree on a mountain, growing slowly and holding firm. It is the reverse of hexagram 54.
The judgment
The woman marries and it goes well. It pays to hold.
In the old world, a marriage went through each step in turn. Anything built that way, a relationship, a career, a reputation, goes well. It pays to hold steady.
The image
A tree on the mountain, adding a ring a year. Settle into being good at this, and the way people behave improves around you.
The tree's growth is slow and visible to everyone. Good character and good influence spread the same way.
The six lines
Counted from the bottom, the way the figure is built when you cast it.
Each line follows a wild goose a stage further from the water.
- Line 1, at the bottom. The wild goose comes to the water's edge. The young one is at risk and people gossip, but going slowly is no fault.
- Line 2. The wild goose lands on a large stone. It eats and drinks at ease. It goes well.
- Line 3. The goose reaches dry land. Someone leaves and doesn't come back, and what was hoped for doesn't arrive. Guard what you have.
- Line 4. The goose comes down in a tree and may land on a level bough. Not a mistake.
- Line 5. The goose reaches the summit. Hopes go unfulfilled for a long time, but in the end nothing stands in the way. It goes well.
- Line 6, at the top. The wild goose climbs toward the clouds. Its plumes are worn in the ritual dance. It goes well.
Reading it for a question
Hexagram 53 says go step by step. Progress is real but slow, and that's what makes it last. Don't skip stages, don't push and trust that patience will carry you up.