I Ching · King Wen 41
Hexagram 41: Decrease
䷨ 損 Sǔn · also called Diminishing, Reduction, Sacrifice · Keeping Still above The Joyous
Less at the base to strengthen the top: a season of reduction that is fortunate when done with sincerity.
reductionsimplicitysinceritysacrificerestraint
The meaning of Hexagram 41
Lake below, mountain above: the lake at the foot of the mountain giving up its depth to the mountain's height. Decrease describes reduction: of resources, of expenditure, of passion, of what is below in order to serve what is above. The tradition's judgement is that decrease combined with sincerity brings supreme good fortune, and it offers the image of two small bowls used for a sacrifice when nothing grander is available. Simplicity, when it is honest, is enough. The image adds the inner work: the wise person controls anger and restrains instincts. The reading says the time asks for less, and that less done sincerely is a form of increase.
The image. The lake at the foot of the mountain; the wise person controls anger and restrains the instincts.
- Advice
- Reduce what is excess, offer what you have with sincerity, and restrain anger and impulse.
- Warning
- Decrease resented, or decrease disguised as plenty, loses the fortune that honest simplicity brings.
over
Structure: ☱ The Joyous (Lake) below, ☶ Keeping Still (Mountain) above. Nuclear hexagram 24, Return. Every line reversed: 31, Influence.
Hexagram 41 for love and relationships
Less: fewer demands, less passion spent on argument, simpler gestures. The reading favours giving something up for the sake of the relationship, done sincerely. Two small bowls, honestly offered, over an elaborate show.
Hexagram 41 for career
A leaner time. Cut what is excess, simplify, and serve the larger purpose with what remains. The reading warns against faking abundance and rewards honest economy. Restrain the temper; it is the costliest excess.
Hexagram 41 for money
Reduce. Spend less, simplify, and treat the reduction as a discipline rather than a loss. Decrease done sincerely, the reading promises, is greatly fortunate. Do not pretend to more than you have.
Hexagram 41 for decisions
Choose the option that costs less and demands more restraint. If it involves giving something up, give it up sincerely and without resentment. The reading is against the lavish choice.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
Increase without decreasing others. No blame. Persistence brings good fortune. It furthers to undertake something. One obtains servants but no longer has a separate home.
Increase that costs no one, from someone whose generosity has become part of the whole. The private house is given up and the person belongs to everyone. The line describes the end of the hexagram turning into its opposite.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 19, Approach. Read line 6 →
Someone increases him. Ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it. Supreme good fortune.
Blessing that cannot be argued with, not even by ten oracles. Someone who has decreased sincerely receives an increase from above that no consultation could have predicted or denied. The line is unconditionally fortunate.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 61, Inner Truth. Read line 5 →
If one decreases one's faults, it causes the other to come and rejoice. No blame.
Reducing not resources but faults, and finding that others are glad to help someone who is working on themselves. The decrease that increases connection. The line approves.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 38, Opposition. Read line 4 →
When three people journey together, their number decreases by one. When one person journeys alone, he finds a companion.
The arithmetic of relationships: three is a crowd and loses one, one is lonely and gains one. The line is about the pairing that relationships settle into, and the reduction that makes real closeness possible.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 26, Great Taming. Read line 3 →
Persistence furthers. To undertake something brings misfortune. Without decreasing oneself, one is able to bring increase to others.
Serving others by being fully yourself rather than by diminishing yourself. Self-respect maintained is what makes the help worth having. The line is against throwing yourself away in the name of giving.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 27, Nourishment. Read line 2 →
Going quickly when tasks are finished is without blame. One must consider how much one may decrease others.
Helping others promptly once your own work is done, and taking care not to reduce yourself so far that you become a burden in turn. Generosity with a sense of proportion.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 4, Youthful Folly. Read line 1 →
Related hexagrams
Cast your own reading
Ask a question and toss six lines. The oracle does not choose the hexagram for you; the coins do.
Ask the I Ching →Common questions
- What does I Ching Hexagram 41 mean?
- Less at the base to strengthen the top: a season of reduction that is fortunate when done with sincerity. Lake below, mountain above: the lake at the foot of the mountain giving up its depth to the mountain's height. Decrease describes reduction: of resources, of expenditure, of passion, of what is below in order to serve what is above. The tradition's judgement is that decrease combined with sincerity brings supreme good fortune, and it offers the image of two small bowls used for a sacrifice when nothing grander is available. Simplicity, when it is honest, is enough. The image adds the inner work: the wise person controls anger and restrains instincts. The reading says the time asks for less, and that less done sincerely is a form of increase.
- What does Hexagram 41 mean for love?
- Less: fewer demands, less passion spent on argument, simpler gestures. The reading favours giving something up for the sake of the relationship, done sincerely. Two small bowls, honestly offered, over an elaborate show.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 41 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 4, Youthful Folly; line 2 gives Hexagram 27, Nourishment; line 3 gives Hexagram 26, Great Taming; line 4 gives Hexagram 38, Opposition; line 5 gives Hexagram 61, Inner Truth; line 6 gives Hexagram 19, Approach. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 31, Influence.