Hexagram 48
The Last Stretch
jǐng
Reading it as a decision
A town can move, but the well underneath it stays put — the classical image is something reliable enough to outlast whoever's drawing from it, neither used up nor increased by how much is taken. But the judgment ends on a sharp caution: getting almost to the water and then breaking the jug, or coming up short on rope, turns the whole effort to nothing. It's a hexagram less about the well itself than about finishing the draw.
This is ground where staying put and doing nothing doesn't actually resolve anything — something has to change, and the change that matters most is closing out the last step rather than starting a new one. If you've been reliably providing value — service, skill, steady output — and it isn't landing yet, the guidance points toward correcting execution at the finish, not abandoning the underlying effort.
The classical text
Judgment (卦辭)
井，改邑不改井，無喪無得。往來井井，汔至亦未繘井，羸其瓶，凶。
The well stays put even as the town around it changes, neither losing nor gaining; almost drawing water but breaking the jug at the last moment brings misfortune.
The six lines (爻辭)
初六：井泥不食，舊井無禽。
The well's mud makes its water undrinkable; an old, disused well draws no birds at all.
九二：井谷射鮒，瓮敝漏。
Water trickles like a gully, fit only for shooting minnows, while the jug leaks from wear.
九三：井渫不食，為我民惻，可用汲，王明，并受其福。
The well is cleaned yet still not drawn from, saddening the people; its water waits for a wise ruler to bring the benefit to all.
六四：井甃，無咎。
The well is lined and repaired with brick; no blame.
九五：井冽，寒泉食。
The well runs clear and cold, its icy spring water good to drink.
上六：井收勿幕，有孚元吉。
The well is left open and uncovered after drawing; sincerity here brings great fortune.
This is a general reference, not a live reading — it doesn't know your situation. iYarrow casts a fresh hexagram for the actual question you're weighing.
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