شش خطی 17
پیروی کردن، همراهی کردن، دنبال کردن (Sui)

Following means going along. As for the qualities of the hexgram, above is lake , joyous, and below is thunder , active: it means self and others in accord, others rejoicing when one acts, acting to the delight of others—therefore it is called following.

This hexagram represents seeking feeling through essence; if follows on the previous hexagram of humility. Humble people make naught of what they have and reveal what they lack; thereby they use yin to make yang complete. However, this is after the return of yang; before yang has returned, true yang will not come unless there is a way to summon and absorb it. The way to summon and absorb it is the path of following.

In this hexagram, thunder and lake join: Thunder, associated with the east, represents the essence, the self; lake, associated with the west, represents feeling, the other. In the beginning of life, essence and feeling are one. The primordial true yang is originally in oneself, but when it mixes with acquired conditioning it is lost outside, is no longer one’s own but belongs to other. If you want to get back to the origin and return to the fundamental, you have to steal it back from the other.

Following as a path is going along with what is desired, gradually introducing guidance. Going along with desire means the self follows the other and gets the other’s favor, inducing the other to come follow the self. Other and self following each other, essence seeks feeling, feeling returns to essence, and that which had been lost is restored to oneself. This is great development by way of the path of following.

However, though the path of following can be greatly developmental, yet there are true and false medicinal substances, there is progression and order in the firing process, there are times for action and stillness, there are times for advance and withdrawal—a small slip produces a tremendous miss. Therefore, for the great development of the path of following, correctness is most beneficial. Correct means right—following rightly, the self sensing rightly, the other responding rightly; when self and other are both right, even artificial feeling transforms into true feeling, and even artificial essence changes into true essence. Essence loves receptivity and rectitude in feeling, feeling loves compassion and benevolence in essence; strength and flexibility one energy, essence and feeling joined, we return to pristine purity. Wholly integrated with natural principle, the golden elixir crystallizes, tranquil and unperturbed yet sensitive and effective, sensitive and effective yet tranquil and undisturbed. Those who are faulty at the outset wind up impeccable in the end. Try to understand when following is right or wrong, good or bad.

Following means adapting to the time. Above is lake , below is thunder ; so there is thunder in the lake. Thunder stands for activity, lake stands for stillness; when activity enters into stillness, creative energy temporarily rests, and repose is necessary. This is the image of following the time.

What superior people see in this is that the primordial true positive energy in people is covered by the acquired force of mundane conditioning, and nature is moved by feeling. This is like that which is proper to thunder being appropriated by lake; if one wants to restore it, one cannot do so save by following the Tao. Therefore they "go inside and rest when the sun goes down," retreating into darkness at the hour of darkness, temporarily using stillness to nurture creativity, not daring to act arbitrarily, refining themselves and waiting for the proper time to emerge.

Resting when it is time to rest is what is referred to by the saying "If you want to take, you must give." This is particularly critical when thunder goes into lake, when the killing force is strong and the vivifying force is weak—this is the extreme of darkness. If you impetuously set to work at this juncture, not only will the vivifying force not return, but this will stimulate the killing force to go out of control.

So just "go inside and rest when the sun goes down," first be still before you act. The active follows the passive, the passive then follows the active; taking over this mechanism is imperceptible to anyone.