# Hexagram 63: After Completion

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/63
Last updated: 2026-10-07

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

- **Upper trigram:** [Kan 坎](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kan), Water, the abysmal, danger
- **Lower trigram:** [Li 離](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/li), Fire, the clinging, clarity
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 101010 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

After completion. The work has been accomplished; the goal has been reached. But do not relax your attention: entropy begins the moment completion is declared. The art now is the maintenance of what has been achieved, which is less dramatic than the achieving but just as essential.

## Image

Water above fire. The superior person, in peace, does not forget danger, and takes precautions against possible calamity.

## Counsel

Celebrate briefly, then return to careful attention. Identify the quiet ways what you have built might begin to decay, and address them before they grow. Do not assume success maintains itself. Humility and vigilance now are the foundation of lasting accomplishment.

## 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:
> He brakes his wheels.
> He comes with his tail into the water.
> No blame.

### Line 2

> A six in the second place means:
> The woman loses her carriage-curtain.
> Do not run after it. On the seventh day you will get it.

### Line 3

> A nine in the third place means:
> The high ancestor chastises the devil's land.
> After three years he overcomes it.
> One should not employ petty people.

### Line 4

> A six in the fourth place means:
> The finest clothes turn to rags.
> Be cautious the whole day long.

### Line 5

> A nine in the fifth place means:
> The neighbor in the east, who slaughters an ox,
> does not obtain as much real happiness
> as the neighbor in the west with their small offering.

### Line 6

> A six at the top means:
> He comes with his head into the water. Danger.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [64 Before Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/64)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [64 Before Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/64)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [64 Before Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/64)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [39 Obstruction](https://thefreeiching.com/library/39) |
| Line 2 | [5 Waiting](https://thefreeiching.com/library/5) |
| Line 3 | [3 Difficulty at the Beginning](https://thefreeiching.com/library/3) |
| Line 4 | [49 Revolution](https://thefreeiching.com/library/49) |
| Line 5 | [36 Darkening of the Light](https://thefreeiching.com/library/36) |
| Line 6 | [37 The Family](https://thefreeiching.com/library/37) |

Previous: [62 Small Preponderance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/62). Next: [64 Before Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/64). [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 63: After Completion." https://thefreeiching.com/library/63 (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/63). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.