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Hexagram 21 — Ji Ji, After Completion
Chronological no. 21 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 63 · 既濟
By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026
the middle son
the middle daughter
Water above Fire: the image of completion. Each element occupies exactly the place that belongs to it, water mastering fire without fully extinguishing it — a balance so perfect it already carries, in seed, its own coming imbalance. Thus the noble one reflects on misfortune in advance and guards against it beforehand: the fullest completion is never a final destination, it is precisely the moment when vigilance must redouble.
The seam is closed, the stitch is knotted. What is finished always carries within it the seed of what will come undo it — nothing finished is ever eternally finished. This line teaches that true completion includes awareness of its own fragility.
The six lines
At the base of the earth, fullness stirs: the yang onset that carried the whole figure now yields its place.
The receptive earth reaches its fullness: the silent welcome that carried the lower figure is about to assert itself.
At the threshold between earth and man, force wavers: what acted through firmness hesitates before turning.
In the listening of man, the hollow fills: the openness that received is about to assert itself.
At the sage's seat, fullness hollows out: the force that governed the figure from its center is about to invert.
At the summit, emptiness reaches its fullest extent and closes: the furthest opening turns toward its opposite.
Source: La Livrée d'Hermès, Anibal Amiot — chapter 7.1 (pp. 63–68). French version of this page.
For the notions used here — magic square, layer and casting, the Yi Jing — see the project lexicon.
The patterns of this hexagram
Eight 12×12 Jacquard patterns are generated from this hexagram, one for each admissible family of the system. Each has its own page: cell, tiling, recolourings and data.
Bases — YANG mutant
Bases — YANG
Pair of two — YANG + YIN mutant
Pair of two — YIN mutant + YANG mutant
Pair of two — YIN + YANG
Pair of two — YIN + YANG mutant
Triple — without YANG
Triple — without YANG mutant
Neighbouring hexagrams
20 — Jian, Obstruction · 22 — Jing, The Well
Hexagrams sharing a trigram
Same upper trigram (☵ Kan): 16 — Bi, Holding Together · 17 — Zhun, Difficulty at the Beginning · 18 — Kan, The Abysmal · 19 — Jie, Limitation · 20 — Jian, Obstruction · 22 — Jing, The Well · 23 — Xu, Waiting
Same lower trigram (☲ Li): 5 — Ming Yi, Darkening of the Light · 13 — Feng, Abundance · 29 — Ge, Revolution · 37 — Bi, Grace · 45 — Li, That Which Clings, Fire · 53 — Jia Ren, The Family · 61 — Tong Ren, Fellowship with Men
