Hexagram 52
艮为山
Keeping Still
Hexagram 52, Gen (Keeping Still), is Mountain over Mountain - two peaks standing motionless, the image of perfect stillness.
Upper Trigram
☶
艮 (土)
Lower Trigram
☶
艮 (土)
Palace
艮 Palace
Shi / Ying Lines
Shi: Line 6 · Ying: Line 3
The 艮 trigram (土) sits above the 艮 trigram (土), forming 艮为山. This hexagram belongs to the 艮 Palace.
Judgment (卦辞)
Keeping Still. Keeping his back still so that he no longer feels his body.
Judgment text follows the Wilhelm–Baynes translation (The I Ching or Book of Changes, Princeton University Press), quoted for commentary.
Image (象辞)
Mountains standing close together: the image of Keeping Still.
Line Texts (爻辞)
Keeping his toes still. No blame. (艮其趾)
Keeping his calves still. Cannot rescue. (艮其腓)
Keeping his hips still. Making sacrum stiff. (艮其限)
Keeping his trunk still. No blame. (艮其身)
Keeping his jaws still. Words have order. (艮其辅)
Noblehearted keeping still. Good fortune. (敦艮)
Hexagram 52 in Love & Relationships
Relationships: In conflict, be still before you speak. Words have order when the mind is still.
Hexagram 52 in Career & Decisions
Career: Learn when to stop. Stillness is not idleness; it is the clarity that precedes right action.
Hexagram 52 as a yes / no answer
Leans no
The hexagram's core image counsels restraint — forcing now works against you.
The I Ching reads situations, not fixed outcomes — your reading can weigh the moving lines with this leaning.
In-Depth Analysis[+]
Hexagram 52, Gen (Keeping Still), is Mountain over Mountain - two peaks standing motionless, the image of perfect stillness. This is the hexagram of stopping, of the discipline of inner quiet. The judgment describes keeping the back still so one no longer feels the body - a stillness so complete that the self is forgotten. The lines trace stillness moving upward through the body: toes, calves, hips, trunk, jaws - each part brought to rest in turn. Gen teaches that true stillness is not passivity but mastery - the ability to stop when stopping is right, and the clarity that stillness alone can give.
Historical Stories[+]
The meditation of the Zen monk, who sits so still that body and self fall away, leaving only the clear mind - the back kept still, the body forgotten.
A mountain that stands unmoved through storm and season, its stillness the source of its endurance.
Practical Applications[+]
Career: Learn when to stop. Stillness is not idleness; it is the clarity that precedes right action.
Relationships: In conflict, be still before you speak. Words have order when the mind is still.
Personal Growth: Practice stillness daily. The quiet mind sees what the busy mind misses.
Classical Sources for Hexagram 52
火珠林 (The Fire Pearl Forest)宋 (Song Dynasty, 960–1279) — disputed
The foundational Najia framework for mapping Stems, Branches, Six Relations, and Six Animals to each hexagram line.
Related Hexagrams
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