01 / THE EARLY TEXT
The words themselves.
An interpretive English translation. Read the translation notes. Six and nine name line types; positions run from bottom to top.
漸：女歸吉，利貞。
Jian: A woman's marriage is auspicious. A favorable determination.
初六：鴻漸于干，小子厲，有言，无咎。
Six at the beginning: The wild goose gradually reaches the shore. Danger for the young; there is criticism. No blame.
六二：鴻漸于磐，飲食衎衎，吉。
Six in the second place: The wild goose gradually reaches the rock. Eating and drinking in ease. Auspicious.
九三：鴻漸于陸，夫征不復，婦孕不育，凶；利禦寇。
Nine in the third place: The wild goose gradually reaches dry land. The husband campaigns and does not return; the woman is pregnant but does not bring up the child. Inauspicious. Favorable to resist raiders.
六四：鴻漸于木，或得其桷，无咎。
Six in the fourth place: The wild goose gradually reaches the tree. Perhaps it finds a level branch. No blame.
九五：鴻漸于陵，婦三歲不孕，終莫之勝，吉。
Nine in the fifth place: The wild goose gradually reaches the hill. For three years the woman does not conceive; in the end nothing can defeat the outcome. Auspicious.
上九：鴻漸于陸，其羽可用為儀，吉。
Nine at the top: The wild goose gradually reaches dry land. Its feathers may be used in ceremony. Auspicious.
02 / A POSSIBLE CONTEXT
What might the question have been?
Can marriage or migration proceed through its stages, and will family life remain secure along the way?
A possible setting
Wild geese move among a shore, rocks, dry land, trees, and a hill. The lines also mention an absent husband, childbirth, years without pregnancy, and defense against raiders.
How the words respond
The earliest stopping place is exposed; the next offers food and ease. The third line introduces severe family disruption. A branch provides a resting place, and later difficulty is finally overcome. The last line turns feathers into ceremonial material.
The geese connect stages of movement with marriage and reproduction. The received wording of the last destination has textual variants.
This scenario adapts the Chinese edition's historical reading. It is a possible reconstruction, not an established single event or the only interpretation.