EN (English)
䷯
Hexagram 48 of 64
The Well
井 · Jǐng
A bucket drawn up on a wooden frame. The hexagram is the classic's meditation on the shared, permanent source that a town depends on and rarely thinks about.
the well
shared resources
reliability
maintenance
- King Wen number
- 48 of 64
- Above
- ☵ Kǎn · Water
- Below
- ☴ Xùn · Wind
- Composition
- Water over Wind
- Lines, bottom to top
- Broken · solid · solid · broken · solid · broken
- Chinese
- 井 · Jǐng
The Judgment
The town may be moved, the well cannot. It neither decreases nor increases. People come and go and draw from it. If you get almost to the water and the rope does not reach, or the jug breaks, misfortune.
The most quoted Judgment in the second half of the book. The source is constant; the failures are all in the apparatus and all at the last moment.
The Image
Water above wood: the Well. So the noble person encourages the people in their work and urges them to help one another.
A well is a shared facility. The Image turns the physical fact into a social one without argument.
What it means
Jing is the well, and it is the classic at its most civic. A town can be picked up and moved and the well stays where it is. It does not run down and it does not fill up. Generations come and go and draw from it.
The Judgment's warning is precise and unusual: the failures it names are all in the equipment and all at the very end. The rope that does not quite reach, the jug that breaks as it comes up. The water was never the problem. Access is.
The third line is the moment the book speaks in the first person. The well has been cleaned and nobody is drinking from it, and the text says this is my heart's sorrow. It is the classic grieving over available good that is going to waste for want of anyone noticing, and it ends by wishing for a ruler clear-sighted enough that everyone could share it.
The fourth line is the unglamorous counterpart: the well is being lined, and no blame. During maintenance nothing can be drawn, and that is not a failure of the well. It is the reason the fifth line has a clear cold spring in it.
In a reading
The Well as an answer points at a shared, permanent resource: an institution, a body of knowledge, a relationship, a community facility, your own trained capacity.
Its counsel is maintenance and access. The source is fine; check the rope and the bucket. If something good in the matter is going unused, the third line says that is the actual problem, and it is worth grieving over and then fixing.
The six lines
Read a line's text only when the cast made it a moving line. They are listed from the top of the figure down, the way the hexagram is drawn.
-
Six at the top
Drawn from without hindrance. It is dependable. Supreme good fortune.
Open access to a reliable source. The best possible ending, and it is about availability rather than abundance.
-
Nine in the fifth place
In the well a clear, cold spring, and one may drink from it.
The ruling line. The thing working exactly as intended, described in seven characters.
-
Six in the fourth place
The well is being lined. No blame.
Maintenance. Nothing can be drawn during the work, and the work is what makes drawing possible later.
-
Nine in the third place
The well is cleaned and nobody drinks. This is my heart's sorrow, for it could be drawn on. If the ruler were clear-sighted, all would share the blessing.
The most personal line in the book: the classic's own voice, grieving over usable good that is going unused.
-
Nine in the second place
At the well hole one shoots at minnows. The jug is cracked and leaks.
A deep source used for something trivial, with broken equipment. Waste on both counts.
-
Six at the beginning
One does not drink the mud of the well. No animals come to an old well.
Neglected and disused. Nothing is wrong with the water; nothing has been maintained.
Related figures
Latest Posts
Discover the ancient wisdom of tarot cards and unlock the mysteries of your spiritual journey. Our blog is your gateway to understanding the rich symbolism, meanings, and practical applications of tarot reading.
