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I Ching · Hexagram 63 After Completion

Hexagram 63 for decisions: After Completion

既濟 Jì Jì · A decision

Decide for maintenance and small adjustments, not for the next great thing. The reading is favourable in small matters and warns that the end of completion is disorder unless it is guarded.

Fire below, water above: water over fire, a pot on a flame in perfect balance, as long as nothing shifts. Every line of After Completion is in its correct position, yang in the odd places and yin in the even. It is the hexagram of order achieved, and the tradition immediately warns what follows: success in small matters, persistence furthers, at the beginning good fortune, at the end disorder. Perfection has nowhere to go but down. The image is of the wise person who takes thought of misfortune and arms against it in advance. The reading says the goal has been reached, or nearly, and that the work now is maintenance: attention to small things, vigilance, and the refusal to relax because things look complete.

Advice
The crossing is made; attend to the small things and guard the order against its own decay.
Warning
Relaxing because everything is in order is the first move of the disorder that follows completion.

The changing lines, read for decisions

If your cast of Hexagram 63 had changing lines, these are what each one adds to a decision question, and where each leads.

  1. Line 1 · changes into 39 Obstruction

    He brakes his wheels. He gets his tail in the water. No blame. Brake now, at the moment of success; do not rush on.

  2. Line 2 · changes into 5 Waiting

    The woman loses the curtain of her carriage. Do not run after it; on the seventh day you will get it back. Do not chase what has been lost; it comes back on its own.

  3. Line 3 · changes into 3 Difficulty at the Beginning

    The Illustrious Ancestor disciplines the Devil's Country. After three years he conquers it. Inferior people must not be employed. The last campaign takes years; win it, and do not hand its rewards to the unworthy.

  4. Line 4 · changes into 49 Revolution

    The finest clothes turn to rags. Be careful all day long. The fraying has begun; be careful all day.

  5. Line 5 · changes into 36 Darkening of the Light

    The neighbour in the east who slaughters an ox does not attain as much real happiness as the neighbour in the west with his small offering. Offer sincerely and simply; splendour without feeling is not received.

  6. Line 6 · changes into 37 The Family

    He gets his head in the water. Danger. Stop looking back at what is done; the water is still moving.

Hexagram 63 in fullLove & relationshipsCareerMoney

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