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HEXAGRAM 48 · jǐng

The Well

The well as shared infrastructure: maintaining resources so value can actually be reached

水风井Classical Chinese included
Translation approach

The Chinese source stays visible. Where an editorial close rendering is available, it stays near the wording before Astro I Ching expands into cultural interpretation. Why we separate these layers →

CLASSICAL CHINESE

The source anchor

Read the source first. The English layer below remains accountable to these passages rather than replacing them with a simplified verdict.

卦辞 · Judgment
井：改邑不改井，无丧无得，往来井井。汔至亦未繘井。羸其瓶，凶。
Close rendering

The Well: a town may be changed, but the well is not changed. There is no loss and no gain; people come and go to the well. One is nearly at the water, but the rope has not yet reached it; if the jar is broken, misfortune.

《大象》 · Image
木上有水，井；君子以劳民劝相。
Close rendering

Water above Wood: The Well. The noble person therefore encourages the people in their work and urges mutual help.

How to read the middle layer

Close rendering stays near wording and sequence. It is not presented as the only possible translation; the cultural reading below is where Astro I Ching explains image, structure, and practical logic in fuller English.

ASTRO I CHING · CULTURAL READING

Why this hexagram says what it says

Cultural reading of the image

Water rises through Wood, evoking a device that draws from an underground well. Jing symbolizes a durable resource intended for common use.

Cultural reading of the judgment

The issue is not only whether value exists. A well must be maintained, accessible, trusted, and open enough to serve the people who depend on it.

SIX LINES · ONE STORY

How the hexagram develops from bottom to top

Line 1 · 初六
Classical Chinese
井泥不食，旧井无禽。
Close rendering

The well is muddy and cannot be drunk from. An old well has no birds.

Cultural reading

A resource neglected for too long can fall from “valuable” to “unused”; mere existence is not usability.

Line 2 · 九二
Classical Chinese
井谷射鲋，瓮敝漏。
Close rendering

The well is like a hollow where small fish are shot; the jar is cracked and leaking.

Cultural reading

When output appears but continually leaks away, the weakness may lie in the system that carries and transfers it.

Line 3 · 九三
Classical Chinese
井渫不食，为我心恻，可用汲，王明，并受其福。
Close rendering

The well has been cleared, yet no one drinks from it, causing sorrow. It can be drawn from. If the king is clear-sighted, all share the blessing.

Cultural reading

A good resource that nobody uses may have a problem of visibility, access, or trust rather than intrinsic quality.

Line 4 · 六四
Classical Chinese
井甃，无咎。
Close rendering

The well is lined with stone. No blame.

Cultural reading

Repairing the structure is progress even before immediate output returns.

Line 5 · 九五
Classical Chinese
井冽，寒泉食。
Close rendering

The well is clear and cold like a spring, fit to drink.

Cultural reading

When the resource is clean, stable, and usable, its value is fulfilled only when it enters shared life.

Line 6 · 上六
Classical Chinese
井收勿幕，有孚元吉。
Close rendering

The well is drawn from; do not cover it. There is trust. Great good fortune.

Cultural reading

The mature well remains open and dependable; public value is weakened when access is closed again.

BRING IT BACK TO LIFE

What this can help you notice

Useful for platforms, public goods, knowledge systems, and infrastructure whose value depends on maintenance and access more than novelty.

A common misreading

The Well is not a symbol of value in the abstract. A resource that cannot be accessed or maintained cannot serve the community.

Keep the classical text and the interpretive layer separate: one is the source, the other is Astro I Ching's explanation of how the source can be read.

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