48- Jing/ The Well
Associated with June; Kan/ Water over Xun/ Wood/ Wind; host is top six
The original pictograph for Jing shows a grid of 9 squares with a dot in the center square. (for those more in to Daoist esoterics- maybe a symbol of the magic square?) This was a reference to a type of land arrangement where the local government, or a lord of the plot operated from the center, which was also the place where the well which provided the people of a village fresh, relatively inexhaustible supply of water.
The Zhou dynasty adopted this Jing land system. While the government owned the lands, they were divided into equal portions, with the landowner/local authorities in the middle and eight families given plots around it of 16.47 acres. All of the families worked to maintain the middle ground and the well and developed their own land in their spare time. A young man would be given a plot of land when he was of age and then, when he grew too old to work, he gave the land back to the community. Four plots of Jing land made up a village. Since everyone gathered around the well in the plot, it became a marketplace (of commerce, ideas, meetings) and a source of replenishment beyond water that quenches thirst.
Line 2: Water is at the bottom of the well, but there is not a way to bring it up because the bucket is faulty; it leaks out and flows away
Line 6: The work done in the previous hexagrams has been completed and the well which nourishes the people is operating, the water is clear and good to drink- this is like a legacy that has been laid out for the benefit of all of society. This line is the host of the hexagram, meaning it is the best placed in the series of lines.
Opposite: Eradicating- 21- Shi He [Biting through the obstacles to relationship]
Inverse: Exhausting- 47- Kun (previous in King Wen arr) Depletion (necessitating a renewal, replenishment, which what 48 is about)
Mutual: Diversity- 38- Kui [strength in multiple perspectives brought about by a variety of individuals or cultures.]
53- Jian/ Developing Gradually
Associated with February Xun/ Wood/Wind over Gen/ Mountain; host(s): Second/six// Fifth 9
Line 2 seems to correspond with line six in the original hexagram because when this line changes by itself, the resulting hexagram is 57- Xun (Wind/ Wood); the same is true of 48 changing in line 6 only. The text is about a bird (specifically, a swan) getting itself to a safe haven- a cliff where it can rest and is supported by another who appreciates the hard work it took to get to that place. “The one at the second line is an honest person who would not reap without sowing. Her work deserves his earnings. There is good fortune.” (Huang, 423)
Line 6: This line seems to correspond to the second line in the original because when this line changes by itself, the resulting hexagram, as in 48, is 39- Hardship. Huang says, (424) "In Classical Chinese literature, especially in poems, swans represent hermits. The hermit is totally free from social bonds, and his dropped feathers (virtuous words and deeds) are sacred.”
Daoist hermits; hardship of the life of cultivating the Dao...
Opposite- Marrying Maiden- 54 (next hexagram in King Wen arrangement)
Inverse- Marrying Maiden- 54- Gui Mei
Mutual- Not Yet Fulfilled- 64- Wei ji
Text used: The Complete I Ching, 10th Anniversary Edition by Taoist Master Alfred Huang.