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Hexagram 22 — Jing, The Well

Chronological no. 22 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 48 · 井

By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026

Magic square / tiling associated with hexagram 22 (The Well) — Tiling of the magic square associated with this hexagram, La Livrée d'Hermès.

☵

Upper trigram

Kan — The Abysmal, Water
the middle son

☴

Lower trigram

Xun — The Gentle, Wind
the eldest daughter

Image

The Well

Upon the wood, Water: the image of the well. Water remains accessible to all who come to draw from it, inexhaustible as long as one knows where to lower the bucket — a shared resource that use never truly depletes. This is the figure of the common good that endures. Thus the noble one comforts the people and urges them toward mutual aid: what truly nourishes a community belongs to no one in particular, it only passes through the hands of those who know how to draw from it.

Judgement

Depth

One only truly follows what one has first drawn from the depths. No resource benefits one who stays on the surface: one must descend, search, truly draw for the well to yield what it holds. This line teaches that depth is the very condition of usefulness.

The six lines

First line

At the base of the earth, emptiness closes over: what was still an opening begins to fill.

Second line

The steadied earth reaches its limit: the solidity that upheld the structure is about to change its nature.

Third line

At the threshold between earth and man, force wavers: what acted through firmness hesitates before turning.

Fourth line

In the listening of man, the hollow fills: the openness that received is about to assert itself.

Fifth line

At the sage's seat, fullness hollows out: the force that governed the figure from its center is about to invert.

Sixth line

At the summit, emptiness reaches its fullest extent and closes: the furthest opening turns toward its opposite.

Read the passage in the book (ch. 7.1) → See it on the interactive board → Create this hexagram's pattern →

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.