Hexagram 56: The Wanderer
旅Lǚ
A guest in every town.
The passages below are historical language. Their references to fortune, danger, and the exemplary person belong to the text’s world. Our modern explanation is an invitation to reflect on your situation.
The Judgment
Classical Chinese
旅。 小亨，旅貞吉。
Our English rendering
The Wanderer. Small success. For the traveler, steadfastness is auspicious.
The Image
Classical Chinese
象曰：山上有火，旅。君子以明慎用刑而不留獄。
Our English rendering
Fire is on the mountain: The Wanderer. A person of integrity is clear-minded and cautious in applying punishment and does not let legal cases linger.
Translation note: The Image uses historical language about punishment and legal cases. The final clause is rendered as avoiding lingering cases, preserving its concern with prompt resolution.
A modern reading
Fire on a mountain has brightness without the settled enclosure of a hearth. The Wanderer describes being in a place where your stay and influence are limited. The Judgment's small success fits that scale. A visit, transition, or unfamiliar role may allow useful movement while leaving many conditions outside your control. The image invites attention to what can be accomplished during this stay and what you need to understand about the place you have entered.
The Image joins caution in judgment with prompt resolution of cases. A person passing through still has responsibilities, and limited time can make clear decisions especially valuable. Applied to a temporary situation, this may mean learning local expectations, handling a particular obligation carefully, and finishing it before you leave. Unresolved work can outlast the traveler. Considering what remains in other people's hands helps define the care appropriate to a brief period of involvement.
A question to sit with
What obligation should you understand and resolve carefully during this temporary stay?
Source and method
The Judgment and Image are classical passages from the Book of Changes. The English rendering and modern explanation are Meow Ching’s editorial work. This page covers these two passages; it does not translate the six individual line texts.
Read the classical text on Wikisource · Our sources and method