The Well
- In Chinese
- 井 jǐng
- Above
- The Abysmal, water
- Below
- The Gentle, wind
Did you get this hexagram?
Mark your changing lines and keep your cast.
Mark my castWhat hexagram 48 means
Hexagram 48 is the well. Its lower trigram is Xun and its upper trigram is Kan, water, and the commentary on the judgment sees in them “wood in the water and the raising of the water”.
The well stays the same while what surrounds it changes. In Legge's judgment “(the site of) a town may be changed, while (the fashion of) its wells undergoes no change”.
The judgment ends with a warning. If the drawing is nearly done, but the rope has not reached the water and the bucket is broken, “this is evil”. Legge states the lesson plainly, “the value of the well depends on the water being actually raised”.
The judgment and the image
The judgment
井改邑不改井，无喪无得。往來井井。汔至，亦未繘井，羸其瓶，凶。
THE WELL. The town may be changed, But the well cannot be changed. It neither decreases nor increases. They come and go and draw from the well. If one gets down almost to the water And the rope does not go all the way, Or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.
misfortune it goes badly
The image
木上有水，《井》。君子以勞民勸相。
Water over wood: the image of THE WELL. Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work, And exhorts them to help one another.
What the commentaries say
The commentary on the judgment says what a well is for. In its words “A well supplies nourishment and is not (itself) exhausted”.
The same commentary finds the constancy of the well in the figure itself. It is shown by “the central position of the strong lines (in the second and fifth places)”, the whole lines in the middle of each trigram.
It also explains the warning. When the rope has not yet reached the water, the commentary says of the well that “its service has not yet been accomplished”. Of the broken bucket it says “it is this that occasions evil”.
The image is water above wood. In Wilhelm the superior man takes his rule from it. He “encourages the people at their work, And exhorts them to help one another”. In Legge the same superior man “comforts the people”.
Legge reads the whole hexagram as a lesson about government. He writes “What a well is to those in its neighbourhood, and indeed to men in general, that is government to a people”. He calls the well of the judgment “a sure source of dependance to men”, and describes it as deep, with the water “drawn up by a vessel let down from the top”.
Legge also explains the name. He says the character was at first a picture of a piece of land divided into nine parts, with the central part belonging to the government and eight families settled on the other parts. In the centre was “a well, which was the joint property of all the occupants”.
The six lines
First line
井泥不食。舊井无禽。
One does not drink the mud of the well. No animals come to an old well.
no verdict
At the bottom the well is muddy and nobody drinks from it. The line gives a second picture, an old well that no birds visit. The commentary ties this to “the low position (of the line)”. Legge says the line is weak and at the very bottom of the figure. He adds that many men in authority are like such a well, “corrupt, useless, unregarded”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 5, Waiting
Second line
井谷射鮒，甕敝漏。
At the wellhole one shoots fishes. The jug is broken and leaks.
no verdict
The water is there, but it escapes through a hole and reaches only small creatures. Legge says the line “might very well symbolise an active spring”, yet it is “in an inappropriate place, and has no proper correlate”, and so “Its cool waters cannot be brought to the top”. The commentary adds that its subject has “none co-operating with him (above)”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 39, Obstruction
Third line
井渫不食，為我心惻。可用汲，王明，並受其福。
The well is cleaned, but no one drinks from it. This is my heart’s sorrow, For one might draw from it. If the king were clear-minded, Good fortune might be enjoyed in common.
no verdict
The well has been cleared out and still nobody uses it. The text grieves over the waste, “for the water might be drawn out and used”, and the commentary says that “(even) passers-by would be sorry for this”. Legge reads the line as “an able minister or officer” left without use.
The line then looks to the king. If he were intelligent, it says, “both he and we might receive the benefit of it”. Wilhelm has “Good fortune might be enjoyed in common”. Legge admits he finds nothing in the figure that can be connected with the well going unused, and remarks “The author was wise beyond his lines”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 29, The Abysmal
Fourth line
井甃，无咎。
The well is being lined. No blame.
no blame there is no mistake in it
The lining of the well is laid, and the text finds no error. The commentary says “the well has been put in good repair”. Legge is cooler about the person of this line. He “is not to be condemned, but neither is he to be praised”, because he “takes care of himself, but does nothing for others”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 28, Great Exceeding
Fifth line
井洌寒泉，食。
In the well there is a clear, cold spring From which one can drink.
no verdict
The water is clear and cold, and it is drunk. The commentary points to “the central and correct position (of the line)”. Legge sees here the place of the ruler and a well “full of clear water, which is drawn up, and performs its useful work”. He adds “Such is the good Head of government to his people”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 46, Pushing Upward
Sixth line
井收勿幕，有孚元吉。
One draws from the well Without hindrance. It is dependable. Supreme good fortune.
supreme good fortune it goes very well, from the root
The water has been brought to the top and the well is not covered. This is the one line with good fortune. Legge sees in it “the top uncovered so that the use of the well is free to all”, and the commentary calls it “the grand accomplishment (of the idea in the hexagram)”.
The text says the open well “suggests the idea of sincerity”. Legge takes that word to point to “the inexhaustibleness of the elemental supply”. Wilhelm puts the same place as “It is dependable”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 57, The Gentle
Hexagram 48 unchanging
If none of your six lines is moving, you read the hexagram as a whole. That is the judgment and the image above, without any of the line texts.
The book gives the reason. Lines that do not move are “non-moving lines, which serve only as structural matter in the hexagram, without intrinsic meaning of their own”.
For hexagram 48 unchanging, what remains is the well of the judgment, which does not change and serves those who come and go, together with its warning about the rope and the bucket. The image adds the call to encourage people and have them help one another.
Questions people ask
What does hexagram 48 mean?
It is the well, which stays the same while towns change and serves those who come and go. The commentary says “A well supplies nourishment and is not (itself) exhausted”. The judgment warns of the rope that falls short and the bucket that breaks, and Legge adds that the worth of a well depends on the water being actually raised.
What does hexagram 48 unchanging mean?
With no moving lines you read only the judgment and the image. For hexagram 48 that is the well that does not change, the warning about the rope and the bucket, and the call to “help one another”.
What does hexagram 48 changing to 57 mean?
It is hexagram 48 with its top line moving. That line shows the water brought to the top of a well that is not covered, and the text says “There will be great good fortune”. When it changes the hexagram becomes number 57.
What does hexagram 48 changing to 46 mean?
It is hexagram 48 with its fifth line moving. That line shows “a clear, limpid well”, with water from a cold spring that is drunk, and when it changes the hexagram becomes number 46.
What is the warning in hexagram 48?
It is the bucket that breaks before the rope has reached the water. Wilhelm has “Or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune”. The commentary says that while the rope has not reached the water the service of the well “has not yet been accomplished”.
Richard Wilhelm, translated by Cary F. Baynes. Žing in James Legge. The Well in Wilhelm and Baynes.
Did you get this hexagram?
Mark your changing lines and keep your cast.
Mark my castTo find the hexagram for you, cast the three coins.
Cast the coins