The lake below evaporates to nourish the mountain above. Sun is about decrease: giving up something, simplifying, cutting back. Done sincerely and at the right time, decrease is not loss but investment, as resources move to where they are needed. Two simple bowls are enough for an offering. What matters is the sincerity of the heart.
Judgment
損：有孚，元吉，无咎，可貞，利有攸往。曷之用？二簋可用享。
Decrease. With sincerity: supreme good fortune, no blame. One can hold to it. Favorable to have somewhere to go. What should be used? Two plain bowls are enough for the offering.
Image
山下有澤，損；君子以懲忿窒欲。
A lake below the mountain: decrease. Taking this as a model, the noble one checks their anger and holds back their cravings.
- Simplifying and reducing
- Sacrifice for something greater
- Restraining anger and desire
- Sincerity over display
- Inner richness
- decrease
- simplicity
- sacrifice
- restraint
- sincerity
- moderation
- Less can be more when it is given sincerely.
- Curb anger and excessive desire.
- Simplicity in form is enough when the heart is true.
The six lines
Lines are numbered from the bottom. In a reading, only the lines that are changing apply to your cast.
Line 1Nine at the beginning 初九
Line text
已事遄往，无咎，酌損之。
Finishing one's own work, one hurries to go. No blame. Consider how much to take from oneself.
Helping others is good, but give thoughtfully. Measure what you can spare without depleting yourself.
- Measured giving
- Helping without depleting
- Giving more than you have
- Help that is sustainable
Line 2Nine in the second place 九二
Line text
利貞，征凶，弗損益之。
Steadfastness is favorable. Marching on: misfortune. Without decreasing oneself, one increases the other.
Don't give up your dignity or integrity in order to serve. Staying true to yourself is the most valuable thing you can offer.
- Serving without self-loss
- Integrity
- Self-sacrifice that diminishes your worth
- Benefiting others by staying whole
Line 3Six in the third place 六三
Line text
三人行，則損一人；一人行，則得其友。
Three people travel together, and one is lost. One person travels alone and finds a friend.
Groups of three tend toward jealousy and exclusion, while someone alone finds a partner. Close bonds work best between two.
- The dynamics of three
- Finding a partner
- Triangles that breed jealousy
- A true companion
Line 4Six in the fourth place 六四
Line text
損其疾，使遄有喜，无咎。
Decreasing one's affliction makes the other hurry to bring joy. No blame.
Reducing your own failings, such as bad habits, defensiveness or pride, quickly opens the door for others to come close and help.
- Reducing your faults
- Opening to others
- Defending your faults
- Others gladly coming to your side
Line 5Six in the fifth place 六五
Line text
或益之十朋之龜，弗克違，元吉。
Someone adds to it: tortoise shells worth ten strings of cowries, which cannot be refused. Supreme good fortune.
When you are ready to receive, good fortune comes as if destined. Nothing can stand in the way of a blessing that is meant for you.
- Receiving blessing
- Destined fortune
- Refusing what is freely offered
- Unexpected abundance
Line 6Nine at the top 上九
Line text
弗損益之，无咎，貞吉，利有攸往，得臣无家。
Increasing the other without decreasing oneself. No blame. Steadfastness: good fortune. Favorable to have somewhere to go. One gains helpers, but no longer keeps a household of one's own.
Your contribution benefits everyone and costs you nothing essential. Your purpose becomes larger than private interest, and many people join you.
- Generosity without loss
- Purpose beyond the private
- Holding on to narrow private interest
- Wide support for a shared purpose
Related hexagrams
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Cast a readingChinese text: Zhouyi 周易 (received classical text). English rendering and notes: Site rendering. About our sources
Commentary
The lower trigram gives up something to strengthen the upper one, as a lake evaporates to moisten the mountain. Sun treats reduction as a natural phase, not a disaster. The reading may suggest a time of tighter resources or of choosing to give something up: time, money, comfort or an attachment, for a deeper or longer-term gain.
The judgment emphasizes sincerity: a modest offering made with a true heart is enough. The image turns decrease inward: reduce anger and desire. Inner simplicity creates space for what really matters. In relation to a question, Sun may emphasize simplifying, letting go of excess and being content with less without bitterness.