Hexagram 48 · 井 · Jǐng
The Well
- Element:
- Water over Wood
- Key themes:
- nourishment, sustainability, community, renewal, shared resources
Image
A well that provides water to the community, symbolizing nourishment and shared resources.
Overall message
Hexagram 48 symbolizes the importance of nourishment, sustainability, and shared resources. It encourages maintaining and renewing sources of nourishment for the benefit of the community.
Focus on nurturing yourself and others. Ensure that resources are shared and sustained for the benefit of all.
Classical text (Legge, 1882)
Judgment. (Looking at) Žing, (we think of) how (the site of) a town may be changed, while (the fashion of) its wells undergoes no change. (The water of a well) never disappears and never receives (any great) increase, and those who come and those who go can draw and enjoy the benefit. If (the drawing) have nearly been accomplished, but, before the rope has quite reached the water, the bucket is broken, this is evil.
Image. (The trigram representing) wood and above it that for water form Žing. The superior man, in accordance with this, comforts the people, and. stimulates them to mutual helpfulness.
From James Legge's translation of the I Ching (Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI, 1882). Public domain.
The six lines
Line 6 · Overflowing Well
The well overflows, symbolizing abundance and generosity.
Use the abundance wisely and ensure it benefits all.
Line 5 · Abundant Well
The well is abundant and benefits the community.
Share the resources generously and ensure sustainability.
Line 4 · Renewed Well
The well is renewed and begins to provide nourishment.
Celebrate the renewal but continue to maintain the well.
Line 3 · Clearing the Well
Efforts are made to clear and restore the well.
Be diligent in your efforts to improve the situation.
Line 2 · Shallow Well
The well is shallow and provides limited resources.
Work to deepen and improve the source of nourishment.
Line 1 · Neglected Well
The well is neglected and not providing nourishment.
Take steps to restore and maintain the source of nourishment.
Related hexagrams
Opposite: If every line of this hexagram were inverted (yang to yin and vice versa), you would have Hexagram 21 · 噬嗑 · Shì Kē. This is the hexagram's structural counterpart — the situation it could become if every dynamic flipped.
Nuclear: The hexagram hidden inside this one, built from lines 2-3-4 and 3-4-5, is Hexagram 38 · 睽 · Kuí. The nuclear hexagram describes the inner pattern that produced this situation — what is going on underneath.
If only one line of this hexagram changed in your cast, you would arrive at:
- Line 1 changing → Hexagram 5 · 需 · Xū
- Line 2 changing → Hexagram 39 · 蹇 · Jiǎn
- Line 3 changing → Hexagram 29 · 坎 · Kǎn
- Line 4 changing → Hexagram 28 · 大过 · Dà Guò
- Line 5 changing → Hexagram 46 · 升 · Shēng
- Line 6 changing → Hexagram 57 · 巽 · Xùn