The Well

井 · Tend the source

A well must stay clear for anyone to drink—maintaining the source beats chasing a new well.

Try this Maintain one foundation: health, a knowledge base, or an important relationship.

In daily life, this often points to keeping the source clear—maintaining existing roots beats chasing novelty blindly.

Life associations

• Career & work Keep the source clear; maintaining existing roots and process beats chasing new projects blindly.
• Relationships Bonds need regular clearing and nourishment; lasting without turbidity draws people to drink.
• Decisions & direction Repair usable infrastructure first, then expand; a deep well matters more than a new one.
• Growth & wellbeing Return to basics and daily nourishment; dig one well deep rather than many shallow holes.
• Money & resources Maintain steady cash flow and credit and hold foundation assets—chase fewer hot new sleeves.
• Negotiation & conflict Clarify rules for shared resources; who takes and who tends must be fair—keep the well from pollution.

Master reading

Core judgment

The fault is chasing new wells and abandoning what nourishes people; the remedy is laboring the people and encouraging mutual help—maintain the source and the base; a deep well beats a new well.

Pattern & remedy

Xun below and Kan above: wood with water above; the well nourishes without end; towns may change, the well does not, hence Jing (The Well). The qi is nourishing the source: systems may change; what nourishes people must stay steady. The Great Image says wood with water above is Jing; you labor the people and encourage mutual help. The well nourishes everyone and also urges people to help each other. Restrain blindly chasing new projects while the source muddies; first repair usable infrastructure, then talk expansion.

Historical mirror

Like Shao Gong hearing cases under the sweet-pear, not disturbing the people while nourishing them—the qi near Jing: the system that nourishes may change its surface, not its root; when the source is clear, people willingly come to draw.

What to do in the situation

Maintain one piece of infrastructure: health, a knowledge base, or an important relationship. At work, keeping existing roots and process beats blindly chasing the new; relationships need regular clearing and nourishing. First repair what is usable, then talk expansion; in growth, return to basics and dig one well deep. Maintain steady cash flow and credit; make shared-resource rules clear—who draws and who maintains must be fair.

What the ancients said

改邑不改井，無喪無得，往來井井。汔至，亦未繘井，羸其瓶，凶。

Jing: towns change, the well does not; no loss, no gain; coming and going, wells remain. Nearly there without the rope, the jug broken—careful: the source that feeds people must stay steady; near success, finish carefully.

巽乎水而上水，井；井養而不窮也。改邑不改井，乃以剛中也。汔至亦未繘井，未有功也。羸其瓶，是以凶也。

木上有水，井；君子以勞民勸相。

Water above wood: labor for people and urge mutual help—the well feeds all, and also asks people to help each other.

Brief background

"水風井" has 巽 below and 坎 above. Jing: wood with water above—nourishing without end. Towns change, the well does not—systems may change; the root that feeds people must stay steady.

The six line texts

• 初六 井泥不食，舊井無禽。
• 九二 井谷射鮒，甕敝漏。
• 九三 井渫不食，為我心惻，可用汲，王明，並受其福。
• 六四 井甃，無咎。
• 九五 井冽，寒泉食。
• 上六 井收勿幕，有孚元吉。