I Ching Hexagram 41, Decrease: Named After Loss, Judged Highly Auspicious
Hexagram 41 is named after loss, yet the I Ching calls it supremely auspicious. What it asks you to decrease is not money, but anger and appetite.
Among the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching exactly one is named after loss, and its judgement is "supreme good fortune". That hexagram is Hexagram 41, Decrease.
The reason it is favourable fits into a single line of the Great Image: what Decrease asks you to reduce is not money, but anger and appetite. Reduce those two and nobody grows poorer.
Today, Thursday 27 August 2026, the calendar leans the same way: a Gui-You day, day-officer Remove. A hexagram named reduction meeting a day named removal.
What does Hexagram 41, Decrease, mean?
Decrease is the forty-first hexagram, with Mountain (Gen) above and Marsh (Dui) below. Sun means to reduce, to diminish. The commentary sums up its structure in four words: reduce below, add above.
The original image is concrete. A marsh is hollowed deep into the ground right at the foot of a mountain. The deeper the hollow, the taller the mountain looks. What the lower part loses is exactly what the upper part gains.
Why is a hexagram named after loss judged so well?
The judgement reads: with sincerity, supreme good fortune, no blame, it can be maintained, favourable to set out. Decrease is judged well because the I Ching does not treat every reduction as damage.
The condition sits in the first two words: with sincerity. Reducing after looking honestly at the reason is good. Reducing out of fear, out of appearances, or reducing what belongs to someone else to keep your own share — that is where sincerity disappears.
What exactly does the hexagram ask you to reduce?
The Great Image names the two things outright: the superior person restrains anger and curbs appetite. Neither is property. Both are things that grow worse the longer they are kept.
The sharp part is that money is never mentioned. A hexagram named after loss, asked to say what should be lost, points inward instead. Anger and appetite share one habit: they enlarge themselves if nobody stops them.
Why does Decrease suit 27 August 2026?
27 August 2026 is a Gui-You day, day-officer Remove, meaning to clear away. Decrease is the only one of the 64 hexagrams that takes reduction itself as its name. One layer more: You belongs to Metal and feeds Gui, which is Water — below supporting above, the same four words again.
Remove days list cleaning, treatment and cutting away the old among their suitable acts, and explicitly mark openings and large payments as unsuitable. Today is also the sixteenth of the seventh lunar month, exactly when every household tidies up after the feast days.
Which line is the most memorable?
The third line reads: when three walk together, one is lost; when one walks alone, he gains a companion. This is an observation about groups, not a divinatory verdict.
Anyone who has been the third person in a trio understands it. Three people cannot split attention evenly, so one always steps back. Someone walking alone always has an empty place beside them.
So what should you do today?
Pick exactly one thing to reduce, and pick something inside rather than something in your wallet. An argument you were about to reopen — leave it closed. A purchase you wanted only because someone else has it — postpone it to tomorrow.
Small clearing-up all goes smoothly today: tidying after the mid-month rites, deleting old messages, returning something borrowed long ago. Openings, signings and large payments belong to another day.
Yesterday everything gathered into one place; today runs the other way. If you are hesitating between three options, remember the third line: drop one, and the other two finally show their faces.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hexagram 41, Decrease, favourable or unfavourable?
The judgement reads "supreme good fortune, no blame", on one condition: sincerity. Decrease speaks of deliberate reduction, not of loss that happens against your will.
Which number is the hexagram Decrease in the I Ching?
Decrease is Hexagram 41 of the 64, with Mountain above and Marsh below. It stands immediately before Hexagram 42, Increase, which is Decrease turned upside down.
What is a Remove day in the old almanac?
Remove is one of the twelve day-officers of the traditional almanac and means clearing away. Remove days suit cleaning, treatment and cutting off what is old, and are unsuitable for openings or large payments.
Try it now: If you are weighing up what to let go of today, cast a reading at quekinhdich.net for an interpretation of your own situation.
*Last updated: 27 August 2026*