Hexagram 48: The Well
井Jǐng
The town changes; the well stays.
The passages below are historical language. Their references to fortune, danger, and the exemplary person belong to the text’s world. Our modern explanation is an invitation to reflect on your situation.
The Judgment
Classical Chinese
井。 改邑不改井，無喪無得。往來井井。汔至亦未繘井，羸其瓶，凶。
Our English rendering
The Well. The settlement may change, yet the well does not change. There is no loss and no gain. People come and go to draw from the well. One comes close, yet has not drawn the water up from the well; the pitcher breaks. Misfortune.
The Image
Classical Chinese
象曰：木上有水，井。君子以勞民勸相。
Our English rendering
Water is above wood: The Well. A person of integrity engages the people in work and encourages them to help one another.
Translation note: The final sentence is compressed and its exact sequence is uncertain. This rendering preserves an attempt to draw water that fails near completion and the breaking of the pitcher.
A modern reading
The well remains while the settlement around it changes. This image distinguishes a lasting source of nourishment from the people and arrangements that happen to surround it. A shared resource can continue to matter through changing circumstances, provided people can still reach it. The Image places work and mutual help beside the water, drawing attention to the human effort needed to keep a common source available to those who depend on it.
The Judgment ends at the moment of drawing water, when a nearly completed effort fails and the pitcher breaks. Having a source is only one part of receiving its benefit. The means of delivery need care too. In a present situation, you might examine where something valuable stops short of reaching its user: a fragile handoff, an inaccessible service, or an unfinished task. The last part of the process deserves its own attention.
A question to sit with
Where does a valuable resource fail to reach the people who need it, and what part of the delivery needs care?
Source and method
The Judgment and Image are classical passages from the Book of Changes. The English rendering and modern explanation are Meow Ching’s editorial work. This page covers these two passages; it does not translate the six individual line texts.
Read the classical text on Wikisource · Our sources and method