Hexagram 41 as yes or no
Hexagram 41 Diminishing as a yes-or-no answer
As an answer to a yes-or-no question Sun says yes, with a cost attached. The judgment grants 'no blame, steadiness that can be maintained, favourable to go somewhere' — but all of it under the heading of decrease: what you are asking about will require you to give something up, and the hexagram asks whether you can do that sincerely rather than grudgingly. If the thing cannot be done on two simple bowls, with less than you hoped for, the answer tilts toward no.
A changing line in the lower trigram puts you in the giving position: line one says act now but set a limit, line two says hold back and keep your integrity, line three says reduce the number of parties involved. A changing line in the upper trigram puts you in the receiving position, and the answer is more clearly yes: line four says accept help, line five says accept the gift, and the top line says that what was taken is coming back as more than you gave.
The hexagram in brief
The lake at the foot of the mountain giving up its moisture: decrease. Sincerity makes even decrease supremely fortunate — two bowls of simple food suffice for the offering.
Cut what is excessive — anger, desire, expense — and give willingly; what is lost below strengthens what is above.
The judgment
損：有孚，元吉，无咎，可貞，利有攸往。曷之用，二簋可用享。In (what is denoted by) Sun, if there be sincerity (in him who employs it), there will be great good fortune:—freedom from error; firmness and correctness that can be maintained; and advantage in every movement that shall be made. In what shall this (sincerity in the exercise of Sun) be employed? (Even) in sacrifice two baskets of grain, (though there be nothing else), may be presented.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 損 Diminishing has its own page:
- 初九Nine at the beginningdrop your own business · hurry to help · measure the gift
- 九二Nine in the second placehold the centre · do not go · give without loss
- 六三Six in the third placethree become two · one finds a friend · doubt in a crowd
- 六四Six in the fourth placelessen the fault · accept help quickly · joy
- 六五Six in the fifth placegifts that cannot be refused · the oracle agrees · blessed from above
- 上九Nine at the topincrease without taking · beyond decrease · followers without a house
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 41, Diminishing, mean yes or no?
- As an answer to a yes-or-no question Sun says yes, with a cost attached. The judgment grants 'no blame, steadiness that can be maintained, favourable to go somewhere' — but all of it under the heading of decrease: what you are asking about will require you to give something up, and the hexagram asks whether you can do that sincerely rather than grudgingly. If the thing cannot be done on two simple bowls, with less than you hoped for, the answer tilts toward no.
- What does Hexagram 41, 損 Diminishing, mean?
- The lake at the foot of the mountain giving up its moisture: decrease. Sincerity makes even decrease supremely fortunate — two bowls of simple food suffice for the offering.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).