Six Doors · No. 48
第48卦 井 Jǐng · The Well
Essence: The source is constant; keep it clean and draw all the way up.
I
Judgment
Towns get moved; the well stays where it is—the fundamentals that nourish people do not change with fashion. Guard your well: dredge it regularly and draw from it in earnest. A rope too short or a jug that cracks halfway up is the same as having no well at all.
II
Trigrams
Upper
坎 Water
Lower
巽 Wind
III
The lines
- Line 1A well silted with mud gives no one water; even the animals abandon a source long neglected.
- Line 2Using the well to shoot at minnows while the jug leaks—real capacity frittered away on trifles.
- Line 3The well is cleaned and no one drinks—a genuine grief; if the one in charge saw clearly, everyone would share the blessing.
- Line 4Lining the well's walls: a pause in output, taken so the source will serve for years.
- Line 5The water runs cold and clear from the center—excellence like this is meant to be drawn and drunk.
- Line 6The well stands open and uncovered, drawn on by all and never exhausted—dependable giving at its most complete.
IV
All the doors
Every single-step transition available from where you stand.
- Line 15 需 · Waiting
The rain will come; wait nourished and unhurried.
- Line 239 蹇 · Obstruction
Blocked ahead; turn back and grow where you stand.
- Line 329 坎 · The Abyss
Abyss upon abyss; sincerity flows where force sinks.
- Line 428 大过 · Great Excess
The beam bends under load; act boldly, stand alone.
- Line 546 升 · Pushing Upward
Rise by steady accumulation, one step after another.
- Line 657 巽 · The Gentle
Gentle persistence penetrates where force cannot.
V