Hexagram 63 of 64
Already Across
既濟 Jì Jì
Upper trigram: 坎 Kǎn, water
Lower trigram: 離 Lí, fire
The judgment
亨小。利貞。初吉終亂。
Success in small things. It is fitting to hold firm. Good fortune at the start, disorder at the end.
The Great Image
水在火上，既濟；君子以思患而豫防之。
Water above fire: this is Already Across. In the same way, the noble person thinks about trouble and guards against it beforehand.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初九
曳其輪，濡其尾，无咎。
Dragging its wheels. Wetting its tail. No blame.
A drag on the wheels and a wet tail are small signs of caution at the crossing. Consider going slower at the start of what looks like an easy win.
Line 2 六二
婦喪其茀，勿逐，七日得。
The wife loses her carriage screen. Do not go after it. In seven days it is recovered.
The wife has lost the screen that gave her privacy in her carriage. Ask whether you could leave a small loss of standing alone for a while and let it settle.
Line 3 九三
高宗伐鬼方，三年克之，小人勿用。
Gaozong attacks the Guifang. In three years he conquers them. The petty person should not be used.
Gaozong was a Shang king, and the line counts three years of war without our having to admire it. Ask what a long win would take from you, and whether the people you would rely on are fit for it.
Line 4 六四
繻有衣袽，終日戒。
For a leak there are rags at hand. On guard all day.
Rags kept ready for a leak are a humble precaution. Ask what small spare you could keep on hand for the day your finished work springs a problem.
Line 5 九五
東鄰殺牛，不如西鄰之禴祭，實受其福。
The eastern neighbor kills an ox. This falls short of the western neighbor's small seasonal offering, which truly receives its blessing.
A small offering outdoes a slaughtered ox in this line. Ask whether a modest thing done with care would mean more, in your situation, than a display.
Line 6 上六
濡其首，厲。
Wetting its head. Danger.
The head goes under at the very end, after the crossing seemed complete. Ask whether your relief at finishing has made you careless about the last stretch.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is fire below and water above, with solid and broken lines in perfect alternation. Water sitting above fire is a picture of cooking, where each needs the other and either could destroy the other. It stands for a crossing that has been completed.
The judgment gives a small success and says that it is fitting to hold firm. It then says that things begin with good fortune and end in disorder. Ask what would start to slip if you stopped paying attention now.
If your question is about a finished project, a settled relationship or a goal you have just reached, tradition reads this as a time for upkeep. The lines point to small losses, leaks and wet tails. The last one cautions against the carelessness that can follow success.
A hexagram is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
Where this text comes from
The Chinese follows the Wikisource text of the Zhou Yi (its page for this hexagram, 周易/既濟), compared with the Project Gutenberg edition. The Great Image comes from the Wikisource page 周易/大象.
- Wikisource, 周易
Retrieved 2026-11-08
- Project Gutenberg eBook 25501, 易經
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Read this hexagram with its traditional commentaries in our library.
Where the sources differ
- In the Great Image, Wikisource (A) writes 豫防 and Project Gutenberg (B) writes 預防. Both mean to guard against beforehand.
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.