I Ching · Hexagram 63 of 64
Hexagram 63: Ji Ji （既济） — After Completion
Fire below, Water above: water over fire, water putting out fire. Fire is the fire of the heart, the emotions; water is the water of the kidneys, the desires. When the true fire descends and the true water rises, spirit and body each return to its place and the knower and the known separate, and one reaches the farther shore of birth and death. The hexagram describes the way of the lesser vehicle, in which one saves oneself, good fortune at first and disorder at the end, and which must be joined to the will to save the world.
At a glance
| Hexagram | 63 of 64 |
|---|---|
| Name | Ji Ji 既济 · After Completion |
| Upper trigram | Kan （坎）· Water |
| Lower trigram | Li （离）· Fire |
| Structure | Water over Fire |
| Lines | 6 lines |
The Judgment （卦辞）
After Completion. Success in small matters. Favorable to persevere. Good fortune at the beginning, disorder at the end.
ExplainedTo have crossed is to have succeeded in crossing the river of birth and death. The image is of fire above and water below: while the fire of emotion is above and the water of desire below, a person is ruled by passion and desire and cannot pass the gate of death. The true fire must descend and the true water rise - the desires rising and becoming compassion for all beings, the emotions descending and becoming upright energy - and then life is transformed. After Completion belongs to the lesser vehicle, the clear-souled one who saves himself alone: like a fox crossing the river, clever enough to get himself over but unable to bring anyone else, so success is small. Good fortune at the beginning, for crossing alone is easy and one may keep it up; disorder at the end, for the truth of life is a common body, and whoever wants only to save himself cannot finish the road. Without the vow to save all beings, even the crossing is not complete.
Tuan Zhuan — Commentary on the Judgment （彖传）
After Completion, success: the small succeed. Favorable to persevere: the firm and the yielding are correct and their places are right. Good fortune at the beginning: the yielding attains the middle. That the end brings disorder: its way is exhausted.
ExplainedAfter Completion, success, and the small succeed: the small are those who perfect themselves alone rather than the sages who perfect the world, and for them the crossing is easy. Favorable to persevere: this is the one hexagram of the sixty-four in which every yang line occupies a yang place and every yin a yin place, so that the firm and yielding are all correct and each line has returned to its place. In a life, the spirit and the body have each returned to their place and the two are no longer entangled, whereas the ordinary person is at war within himself. Good fortune at the beginning: the heart is soft enough to attain the middle, to accept and to hold, and so the true water rises and the true fire descends. That the end brings disorder: this road, in the end, does not lead through, and one must turn back and look again, for a self-saved liberation must finally return to save all beings.
Xiang Zhuan — Image Commentary （大象）
Water over fire: After Completion. The gentleman thinks of calamity and prepares against it.
ExplainedWater over fire: one can reach the farther shore, and yet the gentleman thinks of the calamity and guards against it. The calamity of this hexagram is that one cannot save oneself alone: to hold only the mind of pure liberation without the will to save others must be guarded against, for that road runs out, and even the saint who sits in absorption for ages must at last come back. There is no separate self; life is a single fused body. Only the will to save the world keeps the way from ending in emptiness.
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
He drags his wheel. He wets his tail. No blame.
Small ImageHe drags his wheel: by what is right, no blame.
ExplainedWhoever is careful in small things, so careful that not a drop is lost, crosses easily, as the accountant who cannot sleep until the missing coin is found. To drag the wheel is to check the brakes before setting out, safety first; to wet the tail is the old fox testing the water with his great tail before swimming. No blame means seeking no merit but first avoiding fault. The right, however, means preparing to help others: to want only to save oneself is still to be a petty man, and one must at least begin with a little compassion.
Line 2 · YinLine 2
The wife loses her carriage curtain. Do not pursue. In seven days you obtain it.
Small ImageIn seven days you obtain it: because of the central way.
ExplainedThe carriage is ready and the wife is seated, and the wind carries off the curtain and leaves her exposed and unable to go forward or back, the humiliation that the way of liberation always brings, for people love their face. Those who cultivate the formless way are pointed at: the great donors are honored while the cultivator of decades looks like the family's shame. Do not pursue the lost face, but let go of what the heart values most, and in seven days the heart that sees heaven and earth is recovered, and one stands in the central way.
Line 3 · YangLine 3
The High Ancestor attacks the Devil's Land. In three years he conquers it. The petty should not be used.
Small ImageIn three years he conquers it: exhaustion.
ExplainedWhoever cannot let go of the lost face must fight his own Devil's Land and win only in three years. Within, the sage battles the three poisons of greed, anger and folly until they are cleansed; without, he is slandered and no one believes him, and yet does not falter. The petty should not be used, for the petty flatter and say only what one likes to hear, while the noble offer the bitter word. Besieged within and without, one conquers in three years and is exhausted.
Line 4 · YinLine 4
The boat has ragged clothing. All day he is on guard.
Small ImageAll day on guard: there is doubt.
ExplainedOne drifts on the sea of life in a leaking boat, stuffing the holes with rags, and the holes are greed, anger and folly. Whoever will not face them, will not leave the petty, and will not bear being looked down upon but must outdo others, lives in a broken boat: marriage, children, health, career and money all leaking, and one patches all day long. All day on guard means living in anxiety, doubt and fear, while the boat still sinks.
Line 5 · YangLine 5
The neighbor in the east slaughters an ox; it is not equal to the small sacrifice of the neighbor in the west. He truly receives his blessing.
Small ImageThe eastern neighbor's ox is not equal to the western neighbor's hour: he truly receives his blessing, and great good fortune comes.
ExplainedThe eastern neighbor is the tyrant, the western neighbor the future king: the rich offering of the tyrant is not equal to the thin offering of grain, because one asks a blessing for himself and the other prays for his people. That single thought divides jade from stone - to seek for oneself or to pray for all. To give without dwelling on the gift is a blessing beyond measure, and a single good thought at the end of life is great good fortune arriving.
Line 6 · YinLine 6
He wets his head. Peril.
Small ImageHe wets his head in peril: how can it last?
ExplainedThe worst case is he who has kept none of the five things - care, patching, enduring humiliation, fighting the Devil's Land, the vow to save - and so plunges in headfirst; the fox, heedless of the water's depth and warmth, dives in and sinks before swimming far. To meet marriage, career and money on a five-minute enthusiasm and impulse is to be ruled by desire and emotion, which are without mercy. How can it last?
Key takeaway
Completion is the lesser vehicle's way of self-liberation, good fortune at first and disorder at the end, and it must be joined to the will to save the world.
Frequently asked questions
What does Hexagram 63 (Ji Ji) mean in the I Ching?
Fire below, Water above: water over fire, water putting out fire. Fire is the fire of the heart, the emotions; water is the water of the kidneys, the desires. When the true fire descends and the true water rises, spirit and body each return to its place and the knower and the known separate, and one reaches the farther shore of birth and death. The hexagram describes the way of the lesser vehicle, in which one saves oneself, good fortune at first and disorder at the end, and which must be joined to the will to save the world.
What is the judgment of Hexagram 63?
After Completion. Success in small matters. Favorable to persevere. Good fortune at the beginning, disorder at the end. To have crossed is to have succeeded in crossing the river of birth and death. The image is of fire above and water below: while the fire of emotion is above and the water of desire below, a person is ruled by passion and desire and cannot pass the gate of death. The true fire must descend and the true water rise -…
What do the six lines of Hexagram 63 say?
Line 1: He drags his wheel. He wets his tail. No blame. Line 2: The wife loses her carriage curtain. Do not pursue. In seven days you obtain it. Line 3: The High Ancestor attacks the Devil's Land. In three years he conquers it. The petty should not be used. Line 4: The boat has ragged clothing. All day he is on guard. Line 5: The neighbor in the east slaughters an ox; it is not equal to the small sacrifice of the neighbor in the west. He truly receives his blessing. Line 6: He wets his head. Peril.
What is the main lesson of Hexagram 63 (After Completion)?
Completion is the lesser vehicle's way of self-liberation, good fortune at first and disorder at the end, and it must be joined to the will to save the world.
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