Hexagram 48 井 changing to hexagram 22 賁
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 5, 6.
What to read
Four changing lines: read the two unchanged lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 22 賁, line 3
賁如濡如,永貞吉。
The third line, undivided, shows its subject with the appearance of being adorned and bedewed (with rich favours). But let him ever maintain his firm correctness, and there will be good fortune.
Hexagram 22 賁, line 4
賁如皤如,白馬翰如,匪寇婚媾。
The fourth line, divided, shows one looking as if adorned, but only in white. As if (mounted on) a white horse, and furnished with wings, (he seeks union with the subject of the first line), while (the intervening third pursues), not as a robber, but intent on a matrimonial alliance.
The two hexagrams
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.
Hexagram 22 賁 — judgment
亨。小利有攸往。
Pî indicates that there should be free course (in what it denotes). There will be little advantage (however) if it be allowed to advance (and take the lead).
The changing lines of hexagram 48
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 井泥不食,舊井无禽。 | The first line, divided, shows a well so muddy that men will not drink of it; or an old well to which neither birds (nor other creatures) resort. |
| 2 | 井谷射鮒,瓮敝漏。 | The second line, undivided, shows a well from which by a hole the water escapes and flows away to the shrimps (and such small creatures among the grass), or one the water of which leaks away from a broken basket. |
| 5 | 井冽,寒泉食。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows a clear, limpid well, (the waters from) whose cold spring are (freely) drunk. |
| 6 | 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. |
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.