Yi Jing Hexagram 63 — After Completion (Jì Jì 既濟): meaning and lines

Upper trigram: ☵ Water · lower trigram: ☲ Fire

The Judgment

Everything is in its place, the work is done; but perfect order comes undone. At the summit, watch for the disorder to come.

The ancient ideogram

The ancient character depicts a convoy of chariots having successfully crossed the dangerous bank of a great river and settling in good order on firm ground, joined to the drawing of a perfectly woven cloth in which each thread is in its exact place. It symbolises perfect order, the total accomplishment of the cycle, and the culmination at which balance is so absolute that it becomes highly unstable.

The situation it describes

Absolute order and the critical tipping point

This hexagram describes the exceptional situation in which everything is in place, tidied and perfectly settled (the project is finished, the budget closed, the crisis resolved). It is a moment of total peace and legitimate satisfaction — but it is also the culminating point of the cycle: since perfection cannot be maintained in a living world, the next movement will inevitably be a degradation toward disorder.

The counsel of the figure

Anticipate the slackening and maintain iron vigilance

The strategy of perfect order is a strategy of conservation and prevention: "At the beginning, opening; at the end, closure". The Accomplished Being knows that slackening lurks as soon as the pressure drops; it is therefore fitting to "think of misfortunes in order to guard against them in advance" by checking the smallest details of one's structure. Do not rest on your laurels, for degradation always begins in silence.

The energetic composition

From a structural point of view, this figure is the model hexagram of the Yi Jing: the Yang lines occupy all the odd places (1, 3, 5) and the Yin lines all the even places (2, 4, 6). The fit is total. Fire (Li) is below and Water (Kan) above; the Water descends and the Fire rises, they move toward each other in a harmony that is perfect but frozen, ready to tip over into its opposite (hexagram 64).

The six lines, from bottom to top

Each line is read only if it is changing in your cast. A changing line transforms the figure: the link under each text shows which hexagram it leads to.

Line 1 — yang (bottom line) One brakes one's wheels, one wets one's tail: no blame. If it changes, this line leads to hexagram 39 — Obstruction.

Line 2 — yin The woman loses the curtain of her carriage; do not chase after it, in seven days it is found again. If it changes, this line leads to hexagram 5 — Waiting.

Line 3 — yang The High Ancestor attacks the land of the demons; three years to subdue it; do not employ base men. If it changes, this line leads to hexagram 3 — Initial Difficulty.

Line 4 — yin Fine cloth that ends in rags; stay on guard the whole day long. If it changes, this line leads to hexagram 49 — Revolution.

Line 5 — yang The neighbor to the east slaughters an ox, but the modest offering of the neighbor to the west receives the greater blessing. If it changes, this line leads to hexagram 36 — Darkening of the Light.

Line 6 — yin (top line) One wets one's head: danger (one who lingers at the summit of the accomplished). If it changes, this line leads to hexagram 37 — The Family.

Ask the oracle your question — free consultation

Three-coin or yarrow-stalk cast, changing lines, outlook figure — computed on your device, no account.