Hexagram 17: Following

In a Paris Opera rehearsal room, young dancers position themselves before their ballet master. Edgar Degas painted this scene in 1874, capturing the moment when students adjust their posture, waiting for correction. The elderly instructor leans on his staff, observing. One dancer practices at the barre while others rest or stretch—bodies learning to replicate movements demonstrated again and again.

This is Suí (隨), Following. The hexagram shows Lake (Duì) above Thunder (Zhèn)—joyful expression resting over arousing movement. In Zhou Dynasty divination practice, this configuration appeared when someone needed to align themselves with a teacher, a seasonal change, or a larger pattern already in motion. The lake follows the contours of the land beneath it; thunder's energy moves through the dancer's body as learned form. Following here means adaptation, not submission—the way water follows gravity while remaining itself.

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The Judgment text addresses the rehearsal room directly: "Following has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. No blame." The dancers follow their master's instruction because they seek what he possesses—technique refined over decades. But the text adds a condition: following must be voluntary and have direction. Ancient diviners understood that proper following requires discernment about whom or what to follow. The ballet master earned his authority through mastery; the students choose to follow because they recognize authentic skill.

The Image Text observes: "Thunder in the middle of the lake: the image of Following. Thus the superior man at nightfall goes indoors for rest and recuperation." Even committed following has natural limits—night follows day, rest follows exertion. Degas painted dancers at practice, not performance, showing the private work of alignment that happens away from the public eye. In the I-Ching's sequence, Following comes after Enthusiasm: after the initial excitement of beginning, the student settles into the patient repetition that builds skill. The next hexagram is Work on What Has Been Spoiled—when following becomes mere imitation without understanding, corruption enters.