初六：遁尾，厉，勿用有攸往。
A late withdrawal leaves less room. Avoid a hurried move until you understand the available path and practical constraints.
I Ching Hexagram 33
Dùn · Retreat
遁 · Hexagram 33
Dun concerns preserving yourself when continued contention no longer serves a worthwhile purpose. Heaven and Mountain draw apart. Withdrawal does not deny your value; it stops an unworthy entanglement from directing all your energy and life.
Upper trigram: Heaven/Qián
Lower trigram: Mountain/Gèn
The situation you may be in
You may recognize conflicting values, unequal power, or continuing depletion, yet remain attached through pride, feeling, or previous investment. Separate responsibilities that remain from a contest you need not keep joining.
How to respond
Define what you are withdrawing from, address existing commitments, and reduce futile argument. Create practical distance and new arrangements so the retreat restores agency instead of becoming another way to seek pursuit.
Judgment and Image
Judgment
遁：亨，小利贞。
Retreat. Success. In what is small, perseverance furthers.
Image
天下有山，遁；君子以远小人，不恶而严。
Mountain under heaven: Retreat. The superior person keeps the inferior at a distance, not angrily but with reserve.
Applying it to real life
Love & relationships
Communicate a need for space without using disappearance as punishment. If leaving a draining relationship, address practical matters and seek support so the boundary can be sustained.
Career & work
You may leave an unsuitable rivalry, partnership, or role while completing a responsible handover. Preserve professionalism and dignity without seeking one final argument to prove your worth.
Choice & decisions
Consider the cost of remaining alongside practical arrangements after leaving. Choose what restores judgment and freedom of action, without dismissing withdrawal because it appears less forceful.
Timing & pace
Recognizing the trend early allows a more composed departure. When ties are already substantial, address real constraints carefully rather than leaving impulsively.
The six changing lines
The lines unfold from the bottom upward, describing one pattern of change from its first appearance to its extreme. If your reading has a changing line, begin with that position.
六二：执之用黄牛之革，莫之胜说。
A strong attachment cannot be undone by a declaration alone. Examine commitments and emotional ties, and address the connection as it actually exists.
九三：系遁，有疾厉，畜臣妾吉。
Entanglement obstructs retreat. Tend manageable everyday responsibilities before attempting a larger move while those ties remain unresolved.
九四：好遁，君子吉，小人否。
You can release something you like when the situation no longer fits. Attachment to its immediate rewards otherwise keeps undoing the decision to leave.
九五：嘉遁，贞吉。
An orderly, appropriate, dignified withdrawal preserves trust. Avoid both retaliation and unnecessary prolonging of the departure.
上九：肥遁，无不利。
Once the entanglement is released, return freely to your own life. The other person's reaction need not determine whether the departure was worthwhile.
A common misreading
Dun is not avoidance of every difficulty or silent treatment of someone close. It is a deliberate, measured exit from an unsuitable situation while fulfilling responsibilities that remain yours.
Related hexagrams
Text and interpretation
Updated 12 September 2026Reviewed by MysticEast Research
This page preserves the Chinese Judgment, Image, and line texts of the received Zhouyi. MysticEast's modern explanations are newly written to emphasize stages of change and practical judgment rather than fixed good-or-bad predictions.
Read the Zhouyi at the Chinese Text ProjectLet the hexagram meet your actual question
A guide gives you the map. A cast made with a clear question can help locate the exact stage of change you are experiencing.