I Ching · Hexagram 60 of 64
Hexagram 60: Jie （节） — Limitation
Water above, Lake below: water over the lake. The lake regulates the rivers, storing in drought and taking in flood, as the great lakes hold the waters of the long river. Institutions restrain the people as the lake restrains the water, which can carry the boat or overturn it; the person is regulated by custom and the state by law. Limitation is restraint and measure.
At a glance
| Hexagram | 60 of 64 |
|---|---|
| Name | Jie 节 · Limitation |
| Upper trigram | Kan （坎）· Water |
| Lower trigram | Dui （兑）· Lake |
| Structure | Water over Lake |
| Lines | 6 lines |
The Judgment （卦辞）
Limitation. Success. Galling limitation must not be persevered in.
ExplainedTo be restrained is to succeed: with no headlong collision in one's dealings, relations run smoothly and a group can work, and a person of regular habits has fewer frictions. But galling limitation must not be persevered in: pushed too far - parents with too many rules, a system that controls everything for the sake of consistency - restraint itself becomes a misery no one can keep, and it cannot make noble persons, for the noble are not fussy over trifles. A ritualism that devours people is galling limitation, and when the system is everything, the honest leave and only hypocrites remain.
Tuan Zhuan — Commentary on the Judgment （彖传）
Limitation and success: the firm and the yielding are divided, and the firm attains the middle. Galling limitation must not be persevered in: its way comes to an end. Speak, in order to meet danger; stand in one's place, in order to limit; keep the center and the right, in order to penetrate. Heaven and earth are limited, and the four seasons come to be.
ExplainedHow does limitation succeed? The firm and the yielding are divided above and below, and the firm lines hold the middle: principle within, softness without. Galling limitation must not be persevered in because too much is as bad as too little: people become either hypocrites who comply outwardly or cogs who have lost all creativity. To speak in order to meet danger is to tell people that a course is dangerous and must be restrained; to stand in one's place in order to limit is to hold the seat of parent, teacher or ruler, and to explain that the restraint is for their protection rather than for one's own convenience. Heaven and earth are limited into the four seasons: whoever harms neither property nor people, as with the three articles of the law, limits by institution.
Xiang Zhuan — Image Commentary （大象）
Water over the lake: Limitation. The gentleman establishes measures and discusses virtue.
ExplainedWater over the lake is limitation. The gentleman sets up measures and discusses conduct, so that the original nature is not spoiled. The best institutions are like the five precepts - not to kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie or take intoxicants - and the Ten Commandments: kept, they harm neither property nor people. The basic principle of limitation is to injure neither goods nor persons, and the rest may be left free.
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
Not going out of the door of the courtyard. No blame.
Small ImageNot going out of the door of the courtyard: he knows what is open and what is closed.
ExplainedNot to leave the courtyard is to keep oneself within the garden and the family, at peace with small and natural things, not cutting oneself off but resting easily, and from that stillness wisdom is born. To know what is open and what is closed is the basic wisdom that tells which road can be taken and which cannot, that this marriage will not do or this friendship should not be made. One must first be able to sit still at home to keep that sharpness.
Line 2 · YangLine 2
Not going out of the gate of the courtyard. Misfortune.
Small ImageNot going out of the gate of the courtyard: misfortune - he has lost the time utterly.
ExplainedNot to leave the gate is to shut the door on the world, a limitation pushed until it becomes galling and turns into melancholy, lying down to wait for death. He has lost the time utterly: long seclusion loses the season and the cause of awakening. One should neither welcome nor refuse, neither grasp nor abandon; to refuse the season altogether is to stop at the first glimmer of wisdom and never ripen.
Line 3 · YinLine 3
If one is not limited, one will lament. No blame.
Small ImageThe lament of the unlimited: whom else can he blame?
ExplainedTo be wholly without limit is to act on whim, weighing only what one likes, as in the drinker's and the gambler's pursuit of pleasure, and then to sigh. The no blame here differs from the first line: you can only blame yourself. Sighing over ruined health, ruined fortune and ruined relations, whom else is there to blame? One should examine one's own fault and not blame others.
Line 4 · YinLine 4
Contented limitation. Success.
Small ImageThe success of contented limitation: he receives the way from above.
ExplainedContented limitation is to accept the measure gladly and restrain oneself with a quiet mind, limiting only the desires, which is the hardest work of all. To be content in the limit is to succeed, as one who changes the diet and finds the whole of life changed. He receives the way from above: he takes on the measure given by Heaven, rising above the animal that follows only what it likes into the human who follows what is right.
Line 5 · YangLine 5
Sweet limitation. Good fortune. Going forward brings honor.
Small ImageThe good fortune of sweet limitation: he dwells in the central place.
ExplainedSweet limitation is to find the restraint sweet rather than a sacrifice, the joy of the first absorption, which is a hundredfold the pleasure of the five senses. Sweet limitation brings good fortune and the road always upward; going forward brings honor. Beyond deciding between right and wrong, one follows the heart without overstepping, and the simple life becomes deeply satisfying, as the sage found joy in a single bowl of rice and a gourd of drink.
Line 6 · YinLine 6
Galling limitation. Perseverance brings misfortune. Regret vanishes.
Small ImageGalling limitation, perseverance brings misfortune: its way is exhausted.
ExplainedGalling limitation is restraint pushed too far and borne with bitterness; though held, it brings misfortune, for that road is exhausted and cannot be offered to all. Limitation must be sweet, joyful within simplicity; galling limitation only darkens the face, and no one can walk it. Sweet limitation keeps the great principle, casting off the desire for luxuries, and then the joy of the first absorption arises, and the noble person is at ease wherever he is placed.
Key takeaway
Institution restrains the people as the lake restrains the water, and the limit must be measured, for galling limitation cannot be kept.
Frequently asked questions
What does Hexagram 60 (Jie) mean in the I Ching?
Water above, Lake below: water over the lake. The lake regulates the rivers, storing in drought and taking in flood, as the great lakes hold the waters of the long river. Institutions restrain the people as the lake restrains the water, which can carry the boat or overturn it; the person is regulated by custom and the state by law. Limitation is restraint and measure.
What is the judgment of Hexagram 60?
Limitation. Success. Galling limitation must not be persevered in. To be restrained is to succeed: with no headlong collision in one's dealings, relations run smoothly and a group can work, and a person of regular habits has fewer frictions. But galling limitation must not be persevered in: pushed too far - parents with too many rules, a system that controls everything for the sake…
What do the six lines of Hexagram 60 say?
Line 1: Not going out of the door of the courtyard. No blame. Line 2: Not going out of the gate of the courtyard. Misfortune. Line 3: If one is not limited, one will lament. No blame. Line 4: Contented limitation. Success. Line 5: Sweet limitation. Good fortune. Going forward brings honor. Line 6: Galling limitation. Perseverance brings misfortune. Regret vanishes.
What is the main lesson of Hexagram 60 (Limitation)?
Institution restrains the people as the lake restrains the water, and the limit must be measured, for galling limitation cannot be kept.
Want the reading to be about you?
Enter your birth details to see your own BaZi (Four Pillars of Destiny) chart, your five-element balance and the key months ahead. Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is stored.