# Hexagram 33: Retreat

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/33
Last updated: 2026-10-07

```
━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
```

- **Upper trigram:** [Qian 乾](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/qian), Heaven, the creative, strong
- **Lower trigram:** [Gen 艮](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/gen), Mountain, keeping still
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 001111 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Retreat. A strategic withdrawal, not a defeat. The inferior is rising in the outer situation; holding ground here costs more than it gains. Step back gracefully, preserve your strength, and choose the ground where your integrity is not compromised. Timing the withdrawal well is itself a mastery.

## Image

Heaven above, the mountain below. The superior person keeps the small-minded at a distance: not with anger, but with dignified reserve.

## Counsel

Identify what is draining you and step back from it. This is not cowardice; it is the wisdom of living to fight another day. Do not explain yourself excessively or apologize for choosing your own well-being. The right moment will come to re-engage, but it is not now.

## The six lines

*Numbered from the bottom upward. These line texts are read when that line is changing in a cast.*

### Line 1

> A six at the beginning means:
> At the retreat, at the tail: this is dangerous.
> One must not want to undertake anything.

### Line 2

> A six in the second place means:
> He holds him fast with yellow ox-leather.
> No one is able to tear him away.

### Line 3

> A nine in the third place means:
> A held-up retreat is painful and fraught with danger.
> To keep people as servants and maids brings good fortune.

### Line 4

> A nine in the fourth place means:
> Voluntary retreat brings the noble one good fortune,
> the petty one decline.

### Line 5

> A nine in the fifth place means:
> Friendly retreat. Perseverance brings good fortune.

### Line 6

> A nine at the top means:
> Cheerful retreat. Everything is furthering.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [44 Coming to Meet](https://thefreeiching.com/library/44)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [34 Great Power](https://thefreeiching.com/library/34)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [19 Approach](https://thefreeiching.com/library/19)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [13 Fellowship](https://thefreeiching.com/library/13) |
| Line 2 | [44 Coming to Meet](https://thefreeiching.com/library/44) |
| Line 3 | [12 Standstill](https://thefreeiching.com/library/12) |
| Line 4 | [53 Development](https://thefreeiching.com/library/53) |
| Line 5 | [56 The Wanderer](https://thefreeiching.com/library/56) |
| Line 6 | [31 Influence](https://thefreeiching.com/library/31) |

Previous: [32 Duration](https://thefreeiching.com/library/32). Next: [34 Great Power](https://thefreeiching.com/library/34). [All sixty-four hexagrams](https://thefreeiching.com/library).

*The judgment, image and counsel are original contemporary paraphrases written for The Free I Ching. The line text is the CC0 translation from [jesshewitt/i-ching](https://github.com/jesshewitt/i-ching), derived from Richard Wilhelm's 1924 German edition.*

## Cite this page

The Free I Ching. "Hexagram 33: Retreat." https://thefreeiching.com/library/33 (updated 2026-10-07).

*The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice. Short quotations with a link back are welcome. Please do not republish a page in full. The open data files at [/data](https://thefreeiching.com/data) are licensed CC BY 4.0.*

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Source: The Free I Ching (https://thefreeiching.com/library/33). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.