Yi Jing · Chinese tarot
The Well
Hexagram 48 of the Yi Jing · 井 Jǐng
The figure
Water above Wind: water drawn from the depths by the wood, the spring rising. The image of the well, of what nourishes without running out.
What this figure illuminates
The Well lights up what remains and nourishes beneath the change of situations. The source does not move; it is for us to go and draw from it, and to keep it clean.
For a decision, the figure questions your lasting resources: “beneath the agitation, what is the source I can always return to — and am I tending it?”.
The classical text
The Judgment
The Well: towns move, but the well stays. It neither empties nor fills; all draw from it and it remains. But if the rope falls short of the water, or the jug breaks before it is raised — misfortune.
The Image
Water drawn up through the wood: the well that serves all. Seeing this, the noble person comforts the people and stirs them to help one another.
The Six Lines
- First line
A well gone to mud that no one will drink from, forsaken even by the birds. Neglected, one's own source runs foul.
- Second line
The water leaks away to the minnows in the grass, the jug cracked and useless. Gifts run out to no purpose when the vessel is broken.
- Third line
The well is cleaned and clear, yet no one draws from it — a sorrow, for its water is good. Worth unused waits to be recognized.
- Fourth line
The well is being lined and made sound — a time of repair, not yet of use. No error in setting things right first.
- Fifth line
A clear, cold spring from which all may freely drink. Worth at its fullest, given without stint.
- Sixth line
The water is drawn to the very top and left uncovered for all — the well that never withholds. Great good fortune.
Daoa's wording, written after the classical reference translations, now in the public domain: James Legge (1882) and Charles de Harlez (1889).
A question to keep
What lasting source can you always return to?
Draw this figure for your question
Ask your question and do a free I Ching reading online, then receive a reading tied to your situation.
To go further, Daoa is also an iPhone, iPad & Android app.
Download on the App StoreDownload on Google PlayOr do a free Chinese tarot reading online →