艮Gen · Stillness
In one sentence
Stop when it is time to stop, and mind what is properly your own business.
Two mountains stacked together: stillness, coming to a halt. Stop, and do not let outside things pull you along. Keep your thinking within your own position. This does not mean never moving: stop when it is time to stop, go when it is time to go.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- Now is the time to stop: no expanding, no job-hopping, no taking on other people's business. Do the work of your own position well, and don't let your thinking go beyond that position. Ignore the bustle outside and other people's progress for now. This isn't never moving; it's waiting to go until it is time to go.
- Love
- Stop first. Don't chase the other person for an answer, and don't be pulled along by their every move. Be quiet apart for a while, and take your heart back. A relationship that should stop stops here; don't push it any further. Whether to go on is something to look at once your mind is still. If you're single, this isn't the time to go looking everywhere.
- Money
- Hands off. Don't add more, don't follow the crowd; however much others have made has nothing to do with you. Look after the portion that is yours, and don't think about money beyond your reach. Staying still like a mountain is the steadiest thing you can do right now.
This is the hexagram as a whole. If your cast has changing lines, the line text governs; each line's page has its own reading for work, love and money.
The judgment
In plain wordsCome to rest in the back, that is, in the place where you ought to rest, so that you forget even your own body; walk through the courtyard as if you did not see the people there. No blame.
The Tuan commentary
艮，止也。時止則止，時行則行，動靜不失其時，其道光明。艮其止，止其所也。上下敵應，不相與也。是以不獲其身，行其庭不見其人，无咎也。
Gen means stopping. When the time is to stop, stop; when the time is to move, move. When movement and rest do not miss their time, the way is bright. Stilling at the stopping point: one stops in one's own place. Those above and those below answer each other as opponents; they do not join together. That is why "one does not find one's own body. Walking through the courtyard, one does not see the people in it. No blame."
The Tuan (“judgment”) commentary is one of the Ten Wings. It explains the hexagram name and the judgment from the two trigrams and the positions of the lines.
The image
兼山，艮。君子以思不出其位。
Mountains joined: Gen (Stillness). The noble one, in thought, does not go beyond their position.
The lines
Six at the beginning
Text艮其趾，无咎，利永貞。Stilling the toes. No blame. It is favorable to stay true for the long run.In plain wordsStopping at the toes, that is, stopping before you take the step. No blame. Hold on to this rightness for the long run. More on this line →
Six in the second place
Text艮其腓，不拯其隨，其心不快。Stilling the calves. One cannot rescue the person one follows, and the heart is not glad.In plain wordsYou have stopped your own calves, but you cannot save the one above you who insists on moving and whom you have to follow. You are doing the right thing, but you cannot keep him from his mistake, and you are unhappy about it. More on this line →
Nine in the third place
Text艮其限，列其夤，厲薰心。Stilling the waist, tearing the flesh along the spine. Danger; it scorches the heart.In plain wordsStopping rigidly at the waist, as if the flesh of the back were torn apart, so that you can neither bend nor straighten. It is dangerous, and the heart is as uneasy as if it were being roasted over a fire. Where you need to be flexible, you must not force a stop. More on this line →
Six in the fourth place
Text艮其身，无咎。Stilling the body. No blame.In plain wordsYou keep your whole body in check and stop when it is time to stop. No blame. More on this line →
Six in the fifth place
Text艮其輔，言有序，悔亡。Stilling the jaws. Words are in order. Regret vanishes.In plain wordsYou keep your mouth in check and speak in an orderly, measured way. Regret vanishes. More on this line →
Nine at the top
Text敦艮，吉。Stillness, solid and sincere. Good fortune.In plain wordsHonestly and steadily you come to rest where you ought to rest, and you hold to it right to the end. Good fortune. More on this line →
Lines are counted from the bottom. “Nine” is a yang (solid) line, “six” a yin (broken) line. A line applies to your reading only when it is a changing line.
Related hexagrams
Primary, resulting, nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams explained →
In the hexagram calendar
In the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar, Gen belongs to the third pentad of Frost Falls, “Insects go to ground” (November 2 to November 6, 2026) and the first pentad of Start of Winter, “Water begins to freeze” (November 7 to November 11, 2026).