I Ching · King Wen 48
Hexagram 48: The Well
䷯ 井 Jǐng · also called The Source, Welling, Replenishing · The Abysmal above The Gentle
The well that does not move while the town changes around it: the inexhaustible source, and the care it needs to reach.
sourcenourishmentconstancyaccessmaintenance
The meaning of Hexagram 48
Wind below, water above: wood reaching down into water, the pole and bucket drawing from the well. The Well is the hexagram of the source: what nourishes everyone, stays where it is, and can be neither increased nor diminished. The tradition's judgement is that the town may be moved but the well cannot, that it neither decreases nor increases, and that if the rope is too short or the jug breaks, there is misfortune. The source is constant; the reaching is the difficulty. The reading says there is something deep and reliable here, in a person, a tradition, a practice, and asks whether you are drawing from it properly, with a clean well, a long enough rope and an unbroken jug.
The image. Water over wood; the wise person encourages the people at their work and urges them to help one another.
- Advice
- Keep the well clean and the rope long; the source is constant, the access is your work.
- Warning
- A well that is muddy, unused or drawn from with a broken jug fails the town that depends on it, though the water was always there.
over
Structure: ☴ The Gentle (Wind) below, ☵ The Abysmal (Water) above. Nuclear hexagram 38, Opposition. Every line reversed: 21, Biting Through.
Hexagram 48 for love and relationships
There is a deep source here, in the relationship or in one of you, and the question is whether it is being reached. Clean the well: clear the mud of old grievances. Lengthen the rope: give the time and attention it takes to draw. The source is not the problem.
Hexagram 48 for career
Something reliable and nourishing at the centre of the work, or of you. The reading asks you to maintain access to it: keep skills clear, keep the means of drawing on knowledge in good repair, and share the water. A well no one drinks from is the waste the lines describe.
Hexagram 48 for money
A steady source of income or value that does not fluctuate with the news. Maintain it, do not neglect it for something showier, and make sure the means of drawing on it are sound. The jug must not break at the top.
Hexagram 48 for decisions
Choose the option that keeps you connected to a constant source rather than the one that moves the town. Ask whether your rope is long enough and your jug whole before you decide you are at a dry well.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
One draws from the well without hindrance. It is dependable. Supreme good fortune.
The well fully open, uncovered, dependable, serving everyone without limit. The source that gives freely and is trusted. The line is the hexagram's completion and among the most fortunate in the book.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 57, The Gentle. Read line 6 →
In the well there is a clear, cold spring from which one can drink.
The source at its purest: available, excellent, and there to be used. The line describes a person or resource of the highest quality, and its silence about fortune is deliberate: the water is only good when it is drawn.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward. Read line 5 →
The well is being lined. No blame.
Repair work: a pause in usefulness while the well's walls are restored. The source is temporarily unavailable so that it can serve better afterwards. The line permits this withdrawal for maintenance.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 28, Great Excess. Read line 4 →
The well is cleaned but no one drinks from it. This is my heart's sorrow. If the king were clear-minded, good fortune might be enjoyed in common.
A source made ready and ignored, the ability that is there and unused because no one in authority sees it. The tradition's sorrow is real, and its hope is that clear-sightedness above would benefit everyone.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 29, The Abysmal. Read line 3 →
At the well hole one shoots fishes. The jug is broken and leaks.
Good water used for trivial things, and the means of drawing it neglected. Talent wasted on small pursuits, tools left to break. The line is about ability squandered for lack of anyone to draw it out properly.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 39, Obstruction. Read line 2 →
One does not drink the mud of the well. No animals come to an old well.
A source that has been neglected until it is useless: silted, avoided, forgotten. The line describes a person or a resource that has let itself go so far that no one comes. Only clearing the mud restores it.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 5, Waiting. 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 48 mean?
- The well that does not move while the town changes around it: the inexhaustible source, and the care it needs to reach. Wind below, water above: wood reaching down into water, the pole and bucket drawing from the well. The Well is the hexagram of the source: what nourishes everyone, stays where it is, and can be neither increased nor diminished. The tradition's judgement is that the town may be moved but the well cannot, that it neither decreases nor increases, and that if the rope is too short or the jug breaks, there is misfortune. The source is constant; the reaching is the difficulty. The reading says there is something deep and reliable here, in a person, a tradition, a practice, and asks whether you are drawing from it properly, with a clean well, a long enough rope and an unbroken jug.
- What does Hexagram 48 mean for love?
- There is a deep source here, in the relationship or in one of you, and the question is whether it is being reached. Clean the well: clear the mud of old grievances. Lengthen the rope: give the time and attention it takes to draw. The source is not the problem.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 48 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 5, Waiting; line 2 gives Hexagram 39, Obstruction; line 3 gives Hexagram 29, The Abysmal; line 4 gives Hexagram 28, Great Excess; line 5 gives Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward; line 6 gives Hexagram 57, The Gentle. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 21, Biting Through.