易經 · I Ching · #48
䷯
Jing · Welling · The Well
井
The Well — one of the sixty-four archetypal situations in the Book of Changes.
The Judgment
The community may change but the well stays. It is a dependable resource that must be kept in good repair.
The Image
Water over wood, so the wise person encourages people at their work and urges them to help each other.
How to use it
Maintain what sustains you. Follow through all the way to the water.
Structure
Six lines: 坎 Water (Kan) above and 巽 Wind (Xun) below. Lines are read from the bottom up.
Related hexagrams
- ䷔ 21. Gnawing Bite · Biting Through — Opposite: every line reversed
- ䷮ 47. Confining · Oppression — Reversed: the same lines turned upside down
- ䷥ 38. Polarizing · Opposition — Inner (nuclear): the hidden structure formed by lines 2 to 5
Each BaZi pillar maps to a hexagram through its stem and branch. Coin casting uses a different method — both are valid paths into the Book of Changes. The I Ching is a traditional wisdom text. It describes the character of a moment, not a fixed outcome.