Hexagram 48 · The Well
Jing
Upper Water (Kan) · Lower Wind (Xun)
Judgment
The Well. A town can be changed, but the well cannot be changed. It neither decreases nor increases. People come and go, drawing from the well. If the rope does not reach the water, or if the jar is broken, misfortune.
Lines
- First line (1): The well is muddy and not drunk from. The old well has no birds coming to it.
- Second line (2): The well valley shoots at the fish. The jar is broken and leaks.
- Third line (3): The well is cleaned but not drunk from. This grieves my heart. It could be drawn from. If the king were wise, all would share its blessing.
- Fourth line (4): The well is lined with brick. No blame.
- Fifth line (5): The well is cold and clear, its spring water is drunk.
- Top line (6): The well is completed. Do not cover it. There is trust and great good fortune.
In Practice
The Well is the I Ching's image of a resource that is constant and impersonal. A town may move, but the well stays where it is; people come and go, yet the water level neither rises nor falls. It is the hexagram of teaching, of service, of any capacity that gives to many without being diminished. But the image carries a warning: the water is only useful if the rope reaches it and the jar is not broken. A good well with a short rope serves no one. Talent, knowledge, and care all need the means to be drawn up and offered — otherwise they remain unused potential at the bottom.
In love
The question here is often whether a relationship can be a source for both people, or only for one. A well cannot be drained by a single household and remain a well. If one partner does all the giving, the source is being broken. Look for reciprocity and for the rope — the communication that lets each draw what they need.
In career
You have a capacity others depend on, but it may be poorly drawn: your skills are real yet not visible, not accessible, or not asked for. The work now is not to deepen the well but to lengthen the rope — make what you can do easy for others to reach and use.
In money
The well counsels steady, renewable income over a windfall. A source that keeps giving is worth more than a one-time strike. If you are considering how to monetize a skill, favor recurring, service-based value over a single sale.
Guidance
Ask what you can offer that many can draw from without being diminished, then build the channel that lets them reach it. The source is already there; the task is the rope and the jar.
Watch out
A broken jar wastes even a perfect well. Protect the vessel — your health, your time, your capacity — or the source you tend will be lost through carelessness.
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