Hexagram 48, The Well: The Misfortune Is the Broken Jug, Not the Dry Well

Hexagram 48 marks its only misfortune at the jug that breaks, not at a well running dry. The last line gives one instruction: do not cover the well.

Hexagram 48, The Well, is the forty-eighth of the 64 hexagrams, and it takes the village well as its image. The only unfavourable word in the judgement is not about the well running dry. It is about the person drawing who breaks the jug.

Today is Sunday, 6 September 2026, the 25th of the seventh lunar month, a Gui-Wei day. The day officer is "Close" — literally, shut it.

The Well says the opposite. Its last line gives two words: do not cover.

What does Hexagram 48 mean?

Hexagram 48 places Kan, water, above and Xun, wood, below. The original picture is a wooden bucket lowered to bring water up, so water sits over wood. Jing simply means a well.

The judgement opens with a very worldly observation: "the town may be changed, the well cannot be changed." The well outlasts the village built around it.

Why is the misfortune the broken jug rather than the dry well?

The judgement holds exactly one word of misfortune, and it belongs to the jug: "if one gets down almost to the water and the rope does not go all the way, or the jug breaks, that is misfortune." The water below is untouched.

This is where The Well differs from the other hexagrams of hardship. Hexagram 47 describes real exhaustion; The Well does not — the water is intact, only the vessel failed. Pouring more into the source while the bucket is what broke changes nothing.

Which part do you read first when you draw Hexagram 48?

Read the judgement first for the whole picture, then the moving line. The judgement already sets the frame: the source is durable, the risk lies in the drawing. Reverse the order and you lose the frame.

The six lines build a well from the bottom up. Line one is the muddy floor: "one does not drink the mud of the well; no animals come to an old well." Then the well is cleaned, lined with stone, and the water clears as you rise toward line five.

What does the sixth line say?

The top line reads: "one draws from the well without hindrance; it is dependable — supreme good fortune." It is the last line and the best line of the hexagram.

That is rare. In the I Ching the top line is usually excess, usually regret. The Well inverts it: the best moment is when the well opens to others. The reason is in the image — a covered well becomes a muddy well again, exactly the scene of line one.

Why does Hexagram 48 suit a "Close" day?

6 September 2026 is a Gui-Wei day with the officer "Close": shutting, damming, sealing, storing. The Well ends with "do not cover." Two opposite instructions that together mark one distinction worth making.

"Close" is about sealing a leak. The Well forbids sealing the mouth of the well. Closing what drains and closing what gives are two different acts.

On a Gui-Wei day the Gui stem is Water and the Wei branch is Earth, which overcomes it: large matters cost effort, small ones still go smoothly. Better a day for mending the bucket than for digging a new well.

So what should you do today?

Take one thing that is not moving and ask it straight: is the source broken, or the drawing? If it is the drawing, stop pouring anything more into the source. Yesterday the six waiting places of Hexagram 5 measured where you stand; today The Well measures the bucket.

Seal one concrete leak, in the spirit of the day. And do not cover your own well: whatever you know that someone else needs, today is the day to hand it over.

FAQ

Is Hexagram 48 favourable or unfavourable?

It leans favourable. One word of misfortune, and it belongs to the broken jug. The last line is supreme good fortune.

What is Hexagram 48?

The Well, Jing — Kan over Xun — standing right after Hexagram 47, Oppression.

What does it mean for a practical question?

The resource is still there; the method or the tool is what failed. Review the process before concluding the chance is gone.

*Last updated: 6 September 2026*