Hexagram for Following

They form lake above thunder, the hexagram called Following. A hexagram is a figure of six lines, each either broken (yin) or solid (yang). Read from bottom to top, ䷐ has a solid line, two broken lines, two solid lines and a broken line. Its lower three-line group represents thunder; its upper group represents lake.

The I Ching, also called Yijing, is a Chinese classic consulted for divination and studied for its thinking about change. Its 64 hexagrams each have associated texts. Following concerns how to respond to people and circumstances: adapting does not mean surrendering judgment. The received text connects success with remaining firm and correct.

The book developed in layers. Early divination texts were joined by later philosophical commentaries, so a modern explanation of Following may draw on more than one period of interpretation.

What does ䷐ mean in a message?

It points to hexagram 17 of the I Ching. In a discussion of a reading, it names the figure being interpreted. The title Following alone is not enough to read it as a personal instruction to follow the sender.

A consultation can identify changing lines: lines treated as switching from broken to solid or solid to broken, producing a second hexagram. The plain character ䷐ does not mark which lines change. If someone shares a reading, those notes help explain what they mean.