The 64 hexagrams / Hexagram 48
The Well
Hexagram 48 · 井 Jǐng
Water above · Wind below
震 palace · 五世
What hexagram 48 says
A well: the town may move, the well does not. What matters is whether your rope reaches the water. Keep the source, and keep it public.
Above: Water (Kan) — abysmal, dangerous, flowing.
The six lines
Read from the bottom up. The first line is the beginning of the situation, the sixth is its outer edge. The Chinese text is the classical line text; the line below it is a reading of what it is pointing at.
yin — broken
yang — solid
yang — solid
yin — broken
yang — solid
yin — broken
How to use this hexagram
If you cast this as your primary hexagram, it describes the situation you are in. If it came up as the transformed hexagram, it describes where things are heading once the changing lines have flipped. If you are only looking it up, read the judgment first — the line texts are for specific moments inside the situation, not for the situation as a whole.
Frequently asked
What does I Ching hexagram 48 mean?
Hexagram 48, The Well, is made of Water above and Wind below. A well: the town may move, the well does not. What matters is whether your rope reaches the water. Keep the source, and keep it public.
How do I read hexagram 48 in a casting?
Read the primary hexagram first — it describes the situation as it stands. If any of your six lines were changing lines (sixes or nines from the coin tosses), read those lines' texts next: they mark where the situation is moving. The hexagram produced after those lines flip is the transformed hexagram, and it shows where the movement leads.
What are the six lines of hexagram 48?
Hexagram 48 has six lines, read from the bottom up. The texts below are given in order, first line (bottom) to sixth line (top).
Which palace does hexagram 48 belong to?
In the six-line (liuyao) system, hexagram 48 sits in the 震 palace, fifth generation — the turn is nearly complete. The palace gives the hexagram its ruling element, and from that element the Six Relatives are assigned to each line.