What this hexagram is about
Water above the wood drawn up without end — the image of the well that nourishes all. Like the well, sustain the many in silence, constant and never exhausted, tending and cleansing it always so that it stays pure and fit for use.
The Judgment 卦辞
井，改邑不改井，无丧无得，往来井井。汔至，亦未繘井，羸其瓶，凶。
The town may change, the well does not. It neither loses nor gains; they come and go and draw from it. But if one nearly reaches the water and the rope falls short, or the jug breaks — misfortune.
The Image 大象传
《象》曰：木上有水，井；君子以劳民劝相。
Water rises through the wood of the well; so the noble person heartens the people and urges them to help one another.
Commentary on the Lines 小象传
井泥不食，下也。
The well so muddied none will drink — it has sunk to the bottom.
The Six Lines (hover over the figure above)
Six at the top井收勿幕，有孚元吉。
The well is drawn from and left uncovered, that all may take of it without end; holding sincerity, one spreads the benefit wide — the highest good fortune.
Nine in the fifth place井冽，寒泉食。
The well runs clear and cold, its sweet, cool spring fit to drink — virtue complete and gifts entire, a blessing to others.
Six in the fourth place井甃，无咎。
The well's wall is lined and made whole — cultivating oneself to await one's use; there is no fault.
Six in the third place井渫不食，为我心恻，可用汲。王明，并受其福。
The well is cleansed and clear, yet none come to draw from it — and my heart grieves at it, for this water could be drawn and used. Were the sovereign discerning and the worthy raised to office, high and low alike would share the blessing.
Nine in the second place井谷射鲋，瓮敝漏。
The well leaks downward, trickling only to the minnows, and the jar that holds the water is cracked and seeping — talent gone to waste, spent for nothing.
Initial Nine井泥不食，旧井无禽。
The well is silted with mud and its water too foul to drink; the old, abandoned well draws not even the birds — worthless and unused, cast off by the world.