Jie · Limitation

The meaning

What the name means Jie is restraint, and also a bamboo joint: strength comes from having joints.

The picture Water over a lake, a lake that is full once the water reaches it, for there is only water where there is a bank.

The sense of the whole The whole hexagram is about measure and limits. Spending, effort and speech all need moderation. Even restraint that is bitter cannot be kept up for long if it is too harsh.

In plain words: what this hexagram says

Set yourself a fitting limit. Restraint is not hardship, and a restraint that is too bitter cannot last.

The upper trigram is Water and the lower is Lake: Water above, Lake below. When you read it, first picture the two together as a scene, then set it against the original below. The plain words speak only of stance and do not foretell.

The judgement

亨。苦節不可貞。

The image

澤上有水，節；君子以制數度，議德行。

The six lines

From the bottom up, the first line is the lowest. When you cast this hexagram and a line is changing, read the matching one. The original is classical Chinese.

1. 初九不出戶庭，無咎。
2. 九二不出門庭，兇。
3. 六三不節若，則嗟若，無咎。
4. 六四安節，亨。
5. 九五甘節，吉；往有尚。
6. 上六苦節，貞兇，悔亡。

To learn how to read a hexagram, see "How to read a hexagram"; for changing lines, see "Changing lines and the resulting hexagram".