井 → 否
Hexagram 48: The Well → Hexagram 12: Standstill
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 6).
Line 2
九二 井谷射鮒。甕敝漏。
Nine in the second place means: At the wellhole one shoots fishes. The jug is broken and leaks.
Line 3
九三 井渫不食。為我心惻。可用汲。王明。並受其福。
Nine in the third place means: The well is cleaned, but no one drinks from it. This is my heart's sorrow, For one might draw from it. If the king were clear-minded, Good fortune might be enjoyed in common.
Line 4
六四 井甃无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: The well is being lined. No blame.
Line 6
上六 井收勿幕。有孚元吉。
Six at the top means: One draws from the well Without hindrance. It is dependable. Supreme good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
牧羊稻園，聞虎喧喧。畏懼休息，終无禍焉。
Herding sheep in the rice garden, he hears the tiger roaring loud. In fear he halts and rests; in the end there is no disaster.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water drawn up through wood, the well sits calmly while danger roars beyond the wall. A shepherd tends his flock in a rice paddy when he hears the clamor of a tiger. Alarmed, he holds still and rests in place — and in the end no disaster befalls him. The well's nature is to remain where it is; unlike the city that can be relocated, the well stays fixed. The shepherd's instinct to freeze rather than flee mirrors this anchored wisdom. From The Well to Standstill, heaven and earth refuse to communicate, yet this very blockage protects: the tiger cannot penetrate the wall of deliberate stillness, and withdrawal from engagement becomes a shield.
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