Hexagram 60
Limitation
節
Upper
Water · 坎
the abysmal, danger
Lower
Lake · 兌
the joyous, open
Contemporary judgment
Limitation. Freedom arises from the right constraints, not from their absence. Water held by its banks becomes a river; water without banks becomes a swamp. Choose your limits consciously, choosing the ones that protect your energy and integrity, and they will serve rather than confine you.
Image
Water within the lake. The superior person sets forth the measures of number and virtue and examines the nature of right conduct.
Counsel
Where do you need to say no? Where are you trying to do too much, or to please too many? Set clear, humane boundaries. Do not let limitations become harsh or punitive either; rigid rules serve no one. Find the discipline that supports life rather than suppressing it.
The six lines
Numbered from the bottom upward; displayed here from first to sixth.
Line 1
A nine at the beginning means: Not going out of door and court is no blame.
Line 2
A nine in the second place means: Not going out of gate and court brings misfortune.
Line 3
A six in the third place means: Whoever knows no limitation will have to lament. No blame.
Line 4
A six in the fourth place means: Contented limitation. Success.
Line 5
A nine in the fifth place means: Sweet limitation brings good fortune. To go there brings esteem.
Line 6
A six at the top means: Bitter limitation: perseverance brings misfortune. Remorse vanishes.
Contemporary sections are original app interpretations. Line text comes from the CC0 translation in jesshewitt/i-ching.