Hexagram 48 of 64 · King Wen sequence

The Well

井 · jǐng

Above: Water
Below: Wind

Water above wind: the well — a source that does not move with the village, and a rope that is too short.

The village moves; the well stays. The Well is the hexagram of the dependable source — and of the two classic failures: a well so muddy no one drinks, and a rope too short to reach the water.

Its counsel is about infrastructure over inspiration: keep the well clean (the source must actually nourish), fix the broken rope (the delivery — skills, pipeline, reach), and remember the point is not the well but the drinking. A perfect source that never serves anyone is a monument.

Questions this hexagram asks

What is my well — the source that should not move — and is its water clean?
Where is my rope too short for the water I actually have?
Who is drinking from what I maintain — and is anyone?

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