井
GUA 48 · JING
THE WELL
Overall Image (大象)
Above the wood there is water
The well
The noble young one, accordingly,
labors for the people to encourage cooperation▼
Overall Image (大象)
Above the wood there is water
The well
The noble young one, accordingly,
labors for the people to encourage cooperation
Depth by design, and resource by way of resourcefulness. We penetrate this water in order to raise the water. The human clans gather and settle around these common sources, and through the common effort the village becomes an oasis. The resources that we share, the ways that we have adapted, the last few million years, the genetics of cooperation, our humanity itself: these give us ways to reach into ourselves and our fellows and draw out our best. But we also forget to use these things we share. We take them for granted. We forget to maintain them. Wise ones draw the people out, to demonstrate the uses of these resources, to refresh the shared understanding.
Main Judgment (The Well) (卦辞)
Rearranging the town does not change the well
Neither losing nor gaining,
Whether leaving or arriving, the well is the well
To nearly reach
But then to fall short with the well rope
Or to damage its bucket
Is disappointing▼
Main Judgment (The Well) (卦辞)
Rearranging the town does not change the well
Neither losing nor gaining,
Whether leaving or arriving, the well is the well
To nearly reach
But then to fall short with the well rope
Or to damage its bucket
Is disappointing
The undercurrents and aquifers date to the ancient times. We became who we are when we learned how to access and share them, to reach down deep, into the nature of the one life we live. The commons are things which we’ve gathered around. They do not come to us. The well, like the bucket, the root or the book, are such enduring devices by virtue of their having only one moving part: a living creature who does all of the work, to draw upon their resources and to keep the sources in working repair. What we are able to draw out and take away from these centers is a function of our reach and our grasp, our understandings and comprehensions, our buckets and our ropes, our memories and our new questions. The sources stay available, but the well, not unlike an oracle, is a really lazy device: it will not force its waters, it will not roam around spewing out wisdom. When time has taken a toll, someone with appendages will need to repair it. But it will not make any effort at showing its gratitude. Its user must take up the task and go for the water, not for the forms. The town may change, but the well does not go roving about. Our humanity abides, regardless of cultures.
Key Words (关键词)
Source, plenum, spring, cistern, fountain, tap, pools; center, hub, nucleus, nexus▼
Key Words (关键词)
Source, plenum, spring, cistern, fountain, tap, pools; center, hub, nucleus, nexus
Meeting place, commons; common ground, sources and pools; interdependence Basic service & maintenance; utility taken for granted, maintaining links to source Basic needs, truths, constants; replenishment, providence; be accessible, available Resourcefulness, resources at your disposal, getting to plenty; there to draw upon Developing character around deeper core; self-sufficiency, -reliance, -cultivation
Structure & Connections
Structure Class
Xun-Zhen Family
This classification indicates the hexagram's role in the 12 Sovereign Cycle (Earthly Branches) or its structural family.
Astrology
note:Mercury in Water
planet:Mercury
element:Water
Tarot
card:Eight of Cups
suit:Cups
Qabalah
note:Hod in Briah
sphere:Hod
The Lines
11st • YangThe well’s mud is not consumed
An ancient well with nothing to take▼
1
1st • YangThe well’s mud is not consumed
An ancient well with nothing to take
48.1x The well’s mud is not consumed:
(It is) at bottom
* An ancient well with nothing to take:
In time, forsaken
This drought is not helping this old well’s reputation. The things that one finds in the well when it’s this far down are better left unthought of. Between centuries and decades of slowly silting up, and passing cultures drawing the aquifer down, time is taking its toll on this venerable, old source, although it still endures deeper cycles than monthly rain and shine. Of course it will stay in its place, and not go to where it looks best. Time may not care what happens to the well, but it cannot be blamed for abuse. When the birds and frogs go elsewhere for water, it might be time to re-dig. Lots of questions might be asked here, about what might have gone wrong, but the answers all point one direction: there is no better time than a drought to make repairs on a well, to muck it out and dig it deeper. Time doesn’t care, but in time, we must.
22nd • YangThe well is down low: shoot at the fish
The bucket is damaged and leaking▼
2
2nd • YangThe well is down low: shoot at the fish
The bucket is damaged and leaking
48.2x The well (is) down low: shoot at the fish:
Nothing to offer
It’s a low-down and dirty shame, that’s what it is, degenerate and pitiful. Something so central as the source of refreshment is dying of pure neglect. This is not a fault of the time, although time bore helpless witness as apathy grew and distractions up on the surface of things took over with their own importance. As a resource, he has let himself go, and friends don’t enjoy coming around: he just isn’t refreshing enough. And these same friends could help rebuild his well. The good life has infrastructure: it wants a longer vision, beyond the shortsighted concerns, or beyond just one stage of life. At least the fish here indicate adequate water: the potential seems to be there. But this impasse will only be broken one way: a new beginning will need to be made alone. He must first become a little more worthy. Someone will need to take charge.
33rd • YangThe well has been cleaned, but nothing is consumed
Causing our hearts’ sorrow
It is suitable and available to draw from
Were the sovereign made aware,
all might receive of this abundance▼
3
3rd • YangThe well has been cleaned, but nothing is consumed
Causing our hearts’ sorrow
It is suitable and available to draw from
Were the sovereign made aware,
all might receive of this abundance
48.3x The well (is merely) turbid, (but) nothing (is) consumed:
Passing in sorrow
* Seek the sovereign’s enlightenment:
To receive the abundance
Here is a clean, deep well, full of clear, cold water, but nobody’s stopping to drink. Maybe the newly-cleaned well looks like it hasn’t been tested and proven by time. Maybe it just has no reputation to go on ahead of it yet. Maybe the people are kept unaware by rumors and superstitions - about toads and the other slippery things that dwell in darker depths. Maybe it’s still a little unsettled, more turbid than toxic, and just needs someone to get some flow going. At least the flow of information could use a little assist. Unappreciated value is not really value yet: the diamonds hiding deep in the dirt are just rocks. We cannot rely on the well to proselytize for itself. Something is offered but not being taken, an able person is not yet acknowledged. Is this water not expensive enough? They’ll drink better water who treasure it more.
44th • YangThe well is being relined
Nothing is wrong▼
4
4th • YangThe well is being relined
Nothing is wrong
48.4x The well’s relining is not a mistake:
Renovating the well
Good stewards set aside a time for posterity, to be worthier founders and ancestors. The well is now closed for repairs, shut down and torn apart, being newly relined in stone and tile. Today it is just a wound, just a crude hole in the ground, useless and muddy and ugly. Old forms and structures lie scattered around. But this is one full step beyond its decay, and many beyond the first digging. If these workers can be steady and careful they’ll merit as much respect as they give. If they can take even longer, to do it better than right, the well will become an ancestral shrine. But if they weary of the work, they’ll leave an inferior legacy. The heirs will have to start over, muttering, thinking less of the ancestors, remembering them as shortsighted slobs. The well-built character serves future generations. This is a way of paying our rent.
55th • YangThe well has a clear, cold spring to drink from▼
5
5th • YangThe well has a clear, cold spring to drink from
48.5x The cold spring holds refreshment:
In the center (and) correct
This well-made well springs a big leak in the bottom. It’s about as good as it gets. This certainly was a hole worth throwing some riches down into. Time was taken to do it correctly, care was found to find the right place and patience was there to dig the extra depth, with every tedious hodful of earth and every stone carefully placed. Now they’ll have this cold, clear water to drink for the rest of their stay on the land. Even the old timers and the locals are stunned. The water is so clear and clean that the frogs get edgy and leave. It also explains all those old prayer beads they found, with glyphs of the dead being brought back to life. There can be no question now: if this is about someone’s life, some difficult times might well be over. The water, the anima mundi, will be there to refresh and serve all who’ll remember it’s there.
6Top • YangAs the well comes in, do not cover
Being true is most promising▼
6
Top • YangAs the well comes in, do not cover
Being true is most promising
48.6x Outstanding promise at the top:
A great outcome
He thinks to dig a small well for himself, so he calls in a stranger to divine the right place. The well has come in, and then some. Now his big problem is keeping the lid on his well from floating away. He will need no rope or bucket. He has already built several duck ponds. The neighbors take what they can. But still he has a small brook left over. The thing just keeps refilling itself and the water just keeps getting cleaner. There are times in this life when giving freely isn’t just charity, when indiscriminate might be appropriate, when closure might not be a good thing, when compassion for all living things needs to be spread around. The well does not choose: it will serve a sage or a tyrant, a resident or a wanderer, peasants and sovereigns alike. To keep the lid on will only detract from the taste. We wish you well. Now give yourself away.
Reference in Original Text & Resources
This content is derived from Bradford Hatcher's THE BOOK OF CHANGES: Yijing, Word By Word.
Original text for Hexagram 48 begins on Page 348-356.
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