Hexagram 64: Wei Ji

Fire over Water · 火水未济 · Tendency: Inauspicious

Structure

• Number: 64 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷿
• Upper trigram: Li (Fire)
• Lower trigram: Kan (Water)
• Lines: yin yang yin yang yin yang (bottom to top)

The statement

亨。小狐汔济，濡其尾，无攸利。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

The matter is not yet truly complete—one step short and problems can still arise. It is suitable for checking details, filling gaps, and stabilizing the pace. Do not relax just because the finish line is near, and do not rush to declare success; the final stage requires extra caution.

A Buddhist reading

Weiji (Before Completion) closes the book. Zhixu notes that things can never be exhausted, so completion is always followed by incompletion, and since every completion once came out of incompletion, a way through remains open. Crossing over asks for maturity, decision, and consistency from beginning to end; the danger is the young fox that wets its tail near the far bank. On distinguishing things and settling them in place, he shows fire that rises being better set below and water that sinks being better set above, since the same thing can nourish or destroy depending on where it is put. The last line drinks until the head is soaked, forgetting vigilance in comfort.

After Ouyi Zhixu (1599-1655), whose Chan commentary on the Changes reads each hexagram as a stage of practice.

The statement is quoted from the Book of Changes, which is in the public domain. The English reading on this page was prepared for this library.

Related hexagrams

• Previous / Inverted / Opposite / Nuclear: Hexagram 63: Ji Jithe whole figure turned upside down; every line changed to its opposite; lines two to four below, three to five above

Related

• Liu Yao Divination ChartLiu Yao casts a hexagram about one specific matter and reads its structure. Unlike BaZi or Zi Wei, which describe a person, Liu Yao describes how a situation stands at a particular moment. This page walks through the full process from casting to attribution.
• Mei Hua Yi Shu CalculatorMei Hua Yi Shu is traditionally attributed to Shao Yong. What sets it apart is how freely it casts: a time, a spoken number, a direction or something noticed in passing will all serve. It attaches no stems and no relatives, reading the trigrams directly. This page covers casting through to the subject and object.