Six Doors · No. 63

第63卦既济 Jì Jì · Completion

Essence: Everything is in place; the drift begins now.

Judgment

The great task is done and every element sits in its proper place—which makes this the most dangerous moment of all. After completion, attention relaxes and order begins to fray at the details. Only small acts of maintenance are called for now, and the ending deserves the same care the beginning got.

Sixty-four hexagrams, six doors each

Trigrams

Upper

坎 Water

water

Lower

离 Fire

fire

III

The lines

Line 1At the very start of the after-crossing, drag the brake and let the tail get wet—checking the momentum is what keeps you faultless.
Line 2The carriage screen is taken—do not chase it; keep to your place, and within seven days it comes back on its own.
Line 3The campaign against the far frontier takes three grinding years to win; an achievement that costly must never be handed to the small-minded.
Line 4Fine clothes, with rags kept ready for the leak, and vigilance all day long—even the soundest boat is watched for seepage.
Line 5The eastern neighbor's lavish ox sacrifice earns less blessing than the western neighbor's simple offering made in earnest.
Line 6Lingering to look back after the crossing until the head goes under—clinging to the finished thing is where the danger lies.

All the doors

Every single-step transition available from where you stand.

Inverse (綜) · Opposite (錯)

Inverse (綜)

Opposite (錯)

Written on this

Hexagram 63, Jì Jì (Completion): Water Over Fire, Every Line in Place

A close reading of Hexagram 63, Jì Jì: the only figure with every line correctly placed, why a finished thing is the most fragile, and how to read it when cast.

5 min read