Hexagram 17: Sui - 隨

Cultural Artifact

New Order - Blue Monday and the Adaptation to Dance

New Order (Sumner, Hook, Morris, Gilbert) / Factory Records (1983)

When Ian Curtis died in May 1980, Joy Division faced extinction. The remaining members—Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris—could have tried replacing Curtis, recreating Joy Division's sound. Instead they adapted. They formed New Order, following where the music led rather than clinging to what had worked. Lake above Thunder—joy in movement inducing following. They'd been exploring electronics (Curtis bought a synth just before his death). They'd been going to Manchester clubs, hearing Hi-NRG, Italo disco, Kraftwerk-influenced dance music. So they followed that direction. 'Blue Monday' emerged in 1983: seven minutes, no guitars, pure sequencers and drum machines. The bestselling 12-inch single of all time—but it nearly bankrupted Factory Records because Peter Saville's elaborate die-cut sleeve cost more than the sale price. Hexagram 17 (Following) teaches adaptation to demands of time. New Order embodied this: post-punk band following electronic dance music, younger form leading elder tradition somewhere unprecedented. The adaptation wasn't betrayal—it was survival and transformation.

Practical Integration

The situation changed and your old approach doesn't work anymore. The founder left. The technology shifted. The market evolved. The team transformed. You can resist the change and die slowly, or you can adapt and discover what becomes possible. New Order in 1980: Joy Division's remaining members facing the end. Ian Curtis dead at 23, the band's entire identity built around his voice, his lyrics, his presence. They could have found a replacement vocalist, tried to recreate the Joy Division sound. That's what most bands do—hire the tribute act, keep the machine running. Instead they adapted. They formed New Order, and critically: they followed where the music was actually leading rather than where nostalgia demanded. They'd been going to Manchester clubs—The Haçienda, Factory's nightclub experiment. They'd heard Hi-NRG, Italo disco, Kraftwerk's influence on dance floors. They'd noticed Curtis had bought a synthesizer just before his death. So they followed that thread. Guitars receded, sequencers emerged, drum machines replaced live drums on some tracks. 'Blue Monday' in 1983: seven minutes of pure electronic dance music. No Curtis vocals, no post-punk guitars, no connection to Joy Division's sound except the personnel. The bestselling 12-inch single of all time—14 million copies. It nearly bankrupted Factory Records (Saville's die-cut sleeve cost more to produce than the sale price), but it proved the adaptation worked. Hexagram 17 teaches: to rule one must first learn to serve. Translation for your startup: to lead the market, you must first serve what the market is actually demanding, not what you wish it demanded. New Order could have insisted on post-punk purity—we're a guitar band, we do dark atmospheric rock. The market was moving toward electronic dance. They adapted, and the adaptation created a decade of success in territory Joy Division could never have accessed. The classical text: thunder in winter rest, not summer storm. The superior man goes indoors for recuperation. New Order took time after Curtis's death—they didn't rush a Joy Division replacement album. They rested, explored, let the new direction emerge organically. When they returned, they'd transformed. Your version: the product direction that worked for early adopters isn't resonating with mainstream users. The framework you built on got deprecated. The team dynamics shifted when key people left. You can insist on the original vision and watch traction decline, or you can adapt to what's actually working. The critical distinction: adaptation isn't abandoning principles—it's changing implementation while maintaining core purpose. New Order's principle: make emotionally resonant music that matters. Joy Division's implementation: post-punk intensity with Curtis's baritone. New Order's implementation: electronic dance with Bernard's higher register and sequenced precision. Principle held, implementation adapted. The classical text warns: 'No situation can become favorable until one is able to adapt to it and does not wear oneself out with mistaken resistance.' Mistaken resistance is trying to make Joy Division 2.0. Adaptation is recognizing what the moment requires and following it there. Bernard Sumner had to become a vocalist—uncomfortable, not his original role, but necessary. He adapted. The band adapted. The adaptation created 'Blue Monday,' 'True Faith,' 'Bizarre Love Triangle'—success in a completely different register. You're facing changed circumstances. The old approach isn't working. You can resist and exhaust yourself, or you can follow where the situation is actually leading. Adapt. Find joy in the movement. See where it takes you. The elder yielding to the younger isn't weakness—it's the only path to survival when conditions fundamentally shift.

The Judgment

Following has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. No blame. To obtain following, one must first know how to adapt. To rule one must first learn to serve.

The Image

Thunder in the middle of the lake: the image of Following. Thunder in winter rest. Thus the superior man at nightfall goes indoors for rest and recuperation. No situation becomes favorable until one adapts to it.

The Lines (爻辭)

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Digital Artifact

Depeche Mode's Synth-Pop Adaptation

Depeche Mode / Vince Clarke / Martin Gore (1981)

When Vince Clarke left Depeche Mode after their first album, the band faced a choice: try to force his replacement into Clarke's role, or adapt. They adapted. Martin Gore learned to write differently—less pure pop, more emotional depth. They followed what the moment required rather than clinging to what had worked. Lake (joyous, adaptable) above, Thunder (movement, change) below. Joy in movement induces following. The younger (Gore's developing songwriting) leads the elder (the band's established sound) somewhere new. By adapting to Gore's strengths instead of resisting them, they found 'Just Can't Get Enough' became 'Everything Counts,' which became 'Enjoy the Silence.' The adaptability wasn't weakness—it was survival and evolution. Thunder in the middle of the lake: the image of following. Winter rest, not summer storm. They withdrew from the touring cycle when needed, rested, recovered, came back transformed. Following the demands of time rather than wearing themselves out in mistaken resistance to change.

Practical Integration

The situation changed and your old approach doesn't work anymore. The lead developer left. The framework got deprecated. The market shifted. The user base evolved. You can resist or you can follow. Here's what this probably means: adapt or die. Vince Clarke left Depeche Mode at the end of 1981, just as they were poised for international success. He wrote their first hits—'Dreaming of Me,' 'New Life,' 'Just Can't Get Enough.' The band could have tried to find a Clarke replacement, someone to write the same style of pure synth-pop. Instead they adapted to Martin Gore's completely different writing style. Gore said years later: 'We went into the studio and recorded See You, which was our biggest hit so far.' But it wasn't the same kind of hit. It was darker, more emotionally complex. The band followed where Gore's strengths led rather than trying to force him into Clarke's mold. Following doesn't mean passive acceptance—it means active adaptation to the demands of time. The classical text is precise: 'To rule one must first learn to serve.' Your version: the tech lead who learns the new framework they initially dismissed. The company that pivots when the market signals change. The developer who follows the team's emerging consensus rather than insisting on their original vision. The crucial distinction: remain responsive to views of those under you while maintaining firm principles. Don't vacillate on fundamentals, but don't mistake current implementation for fundamental principle. Depeche Mode's principle: make emotionally resonant electronic music. Implementation in the Clarke era: pure pop structures. Implementation in the Gore era: darker themes, industrial textures, more complex emotional territory. Principle held, implementation adapted. Know what you can change and what you can't. Clarke left—that's the fact. Gore writes differently—that's the reality. The demand of time: adapt to Gore's strengths or lose the band entirely. They adapted. The result: 'Everything Counts,' 'Enjoy the Silence,' decades of success following a completely different path than Clarke's pop would have taken them. The classical text warns about clinging to the wrong things. If you hold to 'little boys'—superficial friendships, outdated approaches, comfortable but inferior methods—you lose connection with 'strong men.' People of intellectual power, better methodologies, what could actually move you forward. When you find the right connection, certain losses naturally follow. You have to let go of the comfortable inferior approach to embrace the challenging superior one. The image is thunder in winter rest—not summer storm. Know when to stop thrashing. The classical text: 'No situation can become favorable until one is able to adapt to it and does not wear oneself out with mistaken resistance.' Depeche Mode didn't resist Gore's different style. They followed it, adapted to it, found decades of success in territory Clarke's pop would never have accessed. You're facing changed circumstances. Follow them. Adapt. Don't wear yourself out in mistaken resistance.

The Judgment

Following has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. No blame. To obtain following, one must first know how to adapt. To rule one must first learn to serve.

The Image

Thunder in the middle of the lake: the image of Following. Thunder in winter rest. The superior man goes indoors for rest and recuperation. No situation becomes favorable until one adapts to it.

The Lines (爻辭)

Historical Context

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Fine Art

Edgar Degas — The Dance Class

Edgar Degas (1874)

Degas painted over 1,500 works featuring ballet dancers during his career, documenting the Paris Opera's rehearsal rooms. This painting shows young dancers receiving instruction from their ballet master, practicing movements that they must learn to replicate. The scene captures the relationship between teacher and students inherent to classical ballet training.

Practical Integration

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. Degas painted over 1,500 works featuring ballet dancers during his career, documenting the Paris Opera's rehearsal rooms. This painting shows young dancers receiving instruction from their ballet master, practicing movements that they must learn to replicate. The scene captures the relationship between teacher and students inherent to classical ballet training. 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.

The Judgment

Following has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. No blame. To obtain following, one must first know how to adapt. To rule one must first learn to serve.

The Image

Thunder in the middle of the lake: the image of Following. Thunder in winter rest. The superior man goes indoors for rest and recuperation. No situation becomes favorable until one adapts to it.

The Lines (爻辭)

Historical Context

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