Hexagram 25 无妄 changing to hexagram 48 井
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 3, 4, 6.
What to read
Five changing lines: read the one unchanged line of the resulting hexagram. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 48 井, line 5
井冽，寒泉食。
The fifth line, undivided, shows a clear, limpid well, (the waters from) whose cold spring are (freely) drunk.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 25 无妄 — judgment
元亨。利貞。其匪正有眚，不利有攸往。
Wû Wang indicates great progress and success, while there will be advantage in being firm and correct. If (its subject and his action) be not correct, he will fall into errors, and it will not be advantageous for him to move in any direction.
Hexagram 48 井 — judgment
改邑不改井，无喪无得，往來井井。汔至亦未繘井。羸其瓶，凶。
(Looking at) Zing, (we think of) how (the site of) a town may be changed, while (the fashion of) its wells undergoes no change. (The water of a well) never disappears and never receives (any great) increase, and those who come and those who go can draw and enjoy the benefit. If (the drawing) have nearly been accomplished, but, before the rope has quite reached the water, the bucket is broken, this is evil.
The changing lines of hexagram 25
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 无妄，往吉。 | The first line, undivided, shows its subject free from all insincerity. His advance will be accompanied with good fortune. |
| 2 | 不耕穫，不菑畬，則利有攸往。 | The second line, divided, shows one who reaps without having ploughed (that he might reap), and gathers the produce of his third year's fields without having cultivated them the first year for that end. To such a one there will be advantage in whatever direction he may move. |
| 3 | 无妄之災，或繫之牛，行人之得，邑人之災。 | The third line, divided, shows calamity happening to one who is free from insincerity;—as in the case of an ox that has been tied up. A passer by finds it (and carries it off), while the people in the neighbourhood have the calamity (of being accused and apprehended). |
| 4 | 可貞，无咎。 | The fourth line, undivided, shows (a case) in which, if its subject can remain firm and correct, there will be no error. |
| 6 | 无妄，行有眚，无攸利。 | The topmost line, undivided, shows its subject free from insincerity, yet sure to fall into error, if he take action. (His action) will not be advantageous in any way. |
English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.