Hexagram 48, line 6
上六Line 6 of Well
Six at the top · 井 jǐng
爻辭 The line text
井收勿幕，有孚元吉。The topmost line, divided, shows (the water from) the well brought to the top, which is not allowed to be covered. This suggests the idea of sincerity. There will be great good fortune.
元吉在上，大成也。'The great good fortune' at the topmost place indicates the grand accomplishment (of the idea in the hexagram).
In plain words
At the top: 'the well is drawn to the top; do not cover it; sincerity, supreme good fortune' (井收勿幕，有孚元吉). Yin at the mouth of the well, the end of Kan and of the hexagram, this is the water brought up and the well left open for everyone who comes and goes. It corresponds to the cleared well at line three, so what was grieved over there is finally used here. The small Image says the great fortune at the top is the grand completion (大成也) of the whole idea: a well exists to nourish without being exhausted, and this is the only line in Jing that reaches 'supreme good fortune' — the one hexagram where the top is fulfilment rather than excess.
If this line is changing
Keep what you have brought up open to anyone who needs it; the completion of this long work is not in having the water but in not putting a lid on it.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 坎 Kan (the Abysmal) (water).
- It corresponds (應) with line 3: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
井 Well becomes ䷸ 57 巽 Yielding (Wind)
Wind upon wind: the gentle that penetrates everywhere. Small success; favourable to have somewhere to go and to see the great man — persistent gentle influence rather than force.
What it becomes57 · 巽 Yielding (Wind)xùnThe six lines of 井 Well
- 初六Six at the beginningmuddy well · no one drinks · abandoned by time
- 九二Nine in the second placewater leaking to the minnows · a cracked jar · no one above to help
- 九三Nine in the third placecleared but not drunk · a grief · if the king were clear-sighted
- 六四Six in the fourth placelining the well · repair · no blame
- 九五Nine in the fifth placeclear well · cold spring · freely drunk
- 上六Six at the topdrawn to the top · do not cover it · sincerity, great fortune
Read 井 Well for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six at the top of hexagram 48, Well, mean?
- At the top: 'the well is drawn to the top; do not cover it; sincerity, supreme good fortune' (井收勿幕，有孚元吉). Yin at the mouth of the well, the end of Kan and of the hexagram, this is the water brought up and the well left open for everyone who comes and goes. It corresponds to the cleared well at line three, so what was grieved over there is finally used here. The small Image says the great fortune at the top is the grand completion (大成也) of the whole idea: a well exists to nourish without being exhausted, and this is the only line in Jing that reaches 'supreme good fortune' — the one hexagram where the top is fulfilment rather than excess.
- What does hexagram 48 become when line 6 changes?
- Well becomes hexagram 57, 巽 Yielding (Wind): Wind upon wind: the gentle that penetrates everywhere. Small success; favourable to have somewhere to go and to see the great man — persistent gentle influence rather than force.
- Is line 6 of Well in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).