I Ching · Hexagram 41 of 64
Hexagram 41: Sun （损） — Decrease
Sun is Mountain over Marsh: the water of the marsh is drawn up into the mountain, so that the lower is diminished for the sake of the upper. The hexagram concerns loss and disappointing days, in which one diminishes the desires of the outward and increases the nature of the inward, and finds in failure the very place to refine the heart.
At a glance
| Hexagram | 41 of 64 |
|---|---|
| Name | Sun 损 · Decrease |
| Upper trigram | Gen （艮）· Mountain |
| Lower trigram | Dui （兑）· Lake |
| Structure | Mountain over Lake |
| Lines | 6 lines |
The Judgment （卦辞）
Decrease. With sincerity, great good fortune, no blame; one may be steadfast. Favorable to have somewhere to go. How should it be done? Two baskets may be used for the offering.
ExplainedLoss is what people dislike, and after a time of release comes carelessness, and carelessness brings loss. The mountain drinking from the marsh is the diminishing of the lower for the sake of the higher; yet loss is no evil hexagram, for things are sometimes increased by being diminished. When everything falls away, turn instead to sincerity, let go of the outward and visible, take up the inward and spiritual, and hold the one: not loss, then, but gain, and no blame.
Tuan Zhuan — Commentary on the Judgment （彖传）
Decrease: diminishing the lower to benefit the upper, its way moves upward. Diminishing with sincerity: great good fortune, no blame, one may be steadfast, favorable to have somewhere to go. How should it be done? Two baskets may be used for the offering. The use of two baskets has its time; diminishing the firm to benefit the yielding has its time. Decrease and increase, fullness and emptiness, go along with the time.
ExplainedTo diminish desire and increase the spirit is to walk the road that reaches heaven, and heaven comes to meet it. The two baskets teach that poverty is a matter of timing and need not last, and that the firm is cut back into gentleness: the stubborn, harsh temper is diminished into warmth, courtesy and modesty. Loss and gain, fullness and emptiness, follow the moment, for the humble are not always poor nor the rich always full.
Xiang Zhuan — Image Commentary （大象）
Below the mountain is the marsh: Decrease. Thus the noble one restrains anger and blocks desire.
ExplainedThe marsh dries as its water is drawn away, the image of money and goods lost. How then to cultivate? By checking anger and curbing desire, for one grows poor through temper and through craving: where the heart is at peace wealth gathers, and where desire is never filled resentment grows. The poor who rages and grasps only sinks deeper; temper and desire are not dropped by will alone, but by holding the one and guarding the original nature.
The Six Lines （六爻）
The lines are read from the bottom upward. Each carries its own text, a Small Image commentary, and a plain-English reading.
Line 1 · YangLine 1
Having finished your business, hasten onward: no blame. Weigh what you may diminish.
Small ImageHaving finished your business, hasten onward: it accords with the will above.
ExplainedTo diminish the lower for the upper also means filial duty: even in poverty hold back a share for one's parents, for to withhold it is to grow poorer still. Lay aside the business that cannot succeed and hasten to the path of giving, weighing what to offer; heaven and one's parents ask very little, only a bit of heart.
Line 2 · YangLine 2
Favorable to be steadfast; setting out brings misfortune. He does not diminish, and so he benefits.
Small ImageNine in the second, favorable to be steadfast: the center is taken as the will.
ExplainedWith the first step taken, anger checked, desire curbed, sacrifice begun, temper softened and the wish to give back awakened, steadfastness now prospers. In this hexagram one must not march out to fight or to prove oneself the winner; sit still, and the decline reverses of itself, as the hardened heart softens and two simple baskets suffice.
Line 3 · YinLine 3
Three walking together lose one; one walking alone finds his companion.
Small ImageOne walking alone: three means suspicion.
ExplainedThis speaks of singleness in love. Heaven and earth intertwine and all things mature; man and woman join and life continues, and one man and one woman are like one heaven and one earth, for there is no second heaven or second earth. A triangle breeds endless suspicion and drains spirit and blessing, so keep the bond single, and love even where you would not.
Line 4 · YinLine 4
Diminish his illness, and let joy come quickly: no blame.
Small ImageDiminishing his illness: this too is a cause for joy.
ExplainedHow is illness diminished? By letting joy come at once, the joy of the teaching, the quickest joy there is, which fills the whole being the moment the mind is calmed. Those filled with it in the true Dharma are healthy and long-lived; to guard the root and let the joy arise is to cure the illness.
Line 5 · YinLine 5
Someone increases him with a tortoise worth ten pairs of shells; he cannot resist it. Great good fortune.
Small ImageThe great good fortune of the fifth line: he is blessed from above.
ExplainedHaving loved singly, kept the center, found the joy of the teaching and given of himself for parents and heaven, one is granted the tortoise of ten pairs: great teachers, wise friends and holy beings sent to aid. Heaven's command at the last is to refine the divine light by turning it back upon itself, and to yield to it unresisting is great good fortune, a life kept under heaven's protection.
Line 6 · YangLine 6
He does not diminish, and so he benefits: no blame, steadfastness brings good fortune, favorable to have somewhere to go, and to win servants with no household.
Small ImageHe does not diminish, and so he benefits: great attainment of the will.
ExplainedThe way has risen upward and blessing comes from above: the cultivation is complete and one enters the hexagram of increase. Then one goes out to save the many instead of clinging to a small household, and heaven sends helpers wherever one goes. No longer diminishing but increasing, the will is greatly fulfilled.
Key takeaway
Decrease teaches that in loss and disappointment one should diminish the desires of the outward and increase the nature of the inward.
Frequently asked questions
What does Hexagram 41 (Sun) mean in the I Ching?
Sun is Mountain over Marsh: the water of the marsh is drawn up into the mountain, so that the lower is diminished for the sake of the upper. The hexagram concerns loss and disappointing days, in which one diminishes the desires of the outward and increases the nature of the inward, and finds in failure the very place to refine the heart.
What is the judgment of Hexagram 41?
Decrease. With sincerity, great good fortune, no blame; one may be steadfast. Favorable to have somewhere to go. How should it be done? Two baskets may be used for the offering. Loss is what people dislike, and after a time of release comes carelessness, and carelessness brings loss. The mountain drinking from the marsh is the diminishing of the lower for the sake of the higher; yet loss is no evil hexagram, for things are sometimes increased by being diminished. When everything falls away…
What do the six lines of Hexagram 41 say?
Line 1: Having finished your business, hasten onward: no blame. Weigh what you may diminish. Line 2: Favorable to be steadfast; setting out brings misfortune. He does not diminish, and so he benefits. Line 3: Three walking together lose one; one walking alone finds his companion. Line 4: Diminish his illness, and let joy come quickly: no blame. Line 5: Someone increases him with a tortoise worth ten pairs of shells; he cannot resist it. Great good fortune. Line 6: He does not diminish, and so he benefits: no blame, steadfastness brings good fortune, favorable to have somewhere to go, and to win servants with no household.
What is the main lesson of Hexagram 41 (Decrease)?
Decrease teaches that in loss and disappointment one should diminish the desires of the outward and increase the nature of the inward.
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