Jing, six at the beginningHexagram 48, line 1 · Jing (The Well) · changing to 5
The line
In plain wordsThe bottom of the well is all mud, and the water cannot be drunk; an abandoned well, where not even birds come. With no living water, no one pays it any attention.
The Image commentary on this line
井泥不食，下也。舊井无禽，時舍也。
"The well is muddy and no one drinks from it": it is at the bottom. "An old well: no birds come": the time has abandoned it.
The small Image commentary is the earliest explanation of the line texts. It usually explains a line from its position: where it stands, whether it holds the center, and which line answers it.
Verdict
止Hold back. The text gives no verdict, but the picture is a bad one. Carry on as you are and you will lose by it. Stop, step aside, or change your approach.
How to read good fortune, misfortune, regret, humiliation and no blame →
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- What you have to offer has become like mud at the bottom of a well: stale, unwanted, ignored. Stop pushing it and stop clinging to the old ways; accept that it can no longer keep up, stop, and don't waste yourself on it.
- Love
- All that is left in your love life is old grievances and resentment, like an old well silted up with mud; there is no living water, and no one wants to come near. Stop holding on to it, and let go of what needs letting go.
- Money
- The old source of income you have relied on for so long has silted up; there is no living water, and no one comes anymore. Don't put any more money into it, don't expect it to come back to life, face reality, and stop.
This is how to read it when this is the only changing line. With several changing lines, first see which text governs; for the hexagram as a whole, see Jing.
Line position
A yin line in a yang place: it is not in its proper place. Its partner is the fourth line, which is also yin, so there is no answer from it.
First place: the beginning of the matter. Low position, little power. Begin carefully.
When you get this line
If this is the only changing line in your cast (three inscribed sides, old yin), this line is your answer. The primary hexagram is Jing (The Well); when this line changes it becomes Xu (Waiting): hexagram 48 changing to 5.
Which text to read with several changing lines →
Resulting hexagram · Xu (Waiting)
The time has not come yet. Wait.