# Hexagram 60: Limitation

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/60
Last updated: 2026-10-07

```
━━━  ━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━
```

- **Upper trigram:** [Kan 坎](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kan), Water, the abysmal, danger
- **Lower trigram:** [Dui 兌](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/dui), Lake, the joyous, open
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 110010 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## 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. These line texts are read when that line is changing in a cast.*

### 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.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [27 Nourishment](https://thefreeiching.com/library/27)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [59 Dispersion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/59)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [56 The Wanderer](https://thefreeiching.com/library/56)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [29 The Abysmal](https://thefreeiching.com/library/29) |
| Line 2 | [3 Difficulty at the Beginning](https://thefreeiching.com/library/3) |
| Line 3 | [5 Waiting](https://thefreeiching.com/library/5) |
| Line 4 | [58 The Joyous](https://thefreeiching.com/library/58) |
| Line 5 | [19 Approach](https://thefreeiching.com/library/19) |
| Line 6 | [61 Inner Truth](https://thefreeiching.com/library/61) |

Previous: [59 Dispersion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/59). Next: [61 Inner Truth](https://thefreeiching.com/library/61). [All sixty-four hexagrams](https://thefreeiching.com/library).

*The judgment, image and counsel are original contemporary paraphrases written for The Free I Ching. The line text is the CC0 translation from [jesshewitt/i-ching](https://github.com/jesshewitt/i-ching), derived from Richard Wilhelm's 1924 German edition.*

## Cite this page

The Free I Ching. "Hexagram 60: Limitation." https://thefreeiching.com/library/60 (updated 2026-10-07).

*The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice. Short quotations with a link back are welcome. Please do not republish a page in full. The open data files at [/data](https://thefreeiching.com/data) are licensed CC BY 4.0.*

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Source: The Free I Ching (https://thefreeiching.com/library/60). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.