Hexagram 60 of 64
节 jié
Limitation
坎 (kǎn, Water) above · 兑 (duì, Lake) below
The Judgment 卦辞
Set the limits — of spending, time, appetite, words. Measured limitation works; harsh limitation breeds bitterness. Find the saving space between too much and too little.
The Image 大象
Water over the lake: limitation. The wise person works out numbers and measures, and discusses what is fitting.
The six lines 爻辞
Each line of 节 has its own classical text. If a line in your cast is changing, its text is the heart of your reading.
Line 1 · 初九
Not stepping past the courtyard — no blame. Knowing when to stay in is the first limit.
「不出户庭，无咎」
Line 2 · 九二
Still inside when the moment called you out — misfortune. The same door, missed timing.
「不出门庭，凶」
Line 3 · 六三
No limits kept — then the sighing. Feel the cost honestly and no blame remains.
「不节若，则嗟若，无咎」
Line 4 · 六四
Limits accepted at peace. The flow returns.
「安节，亨」
Line 5 · 九五
Limits that taste sweet — good fortune, going forward brings esteem.
「甘节，吉，往有尚」
Line 6 · 上六
Bitter, punishing limits: misfortune. But see that clearly, and even this regret can fade.
「苦节，贞凶，悔亡」
If you drew this in a reading
A pattern of tension and craft. This hexagram belongs to the large middle family of mixed patterns: it works, but only along its own grain. Read the Judgment closely — mixed hexagrams usually name the exact condition on which their promise depends.
In yes/no questions this hexagram reads as “not yet clear” — the answer hinges on timing and execution.
The trigrams give the flavor: 坎 (Water) above — the abysmal — depth, danger, flow through difficulty — over 兑 (Lake) below — joyous openness — exchange, persuasion, pleasure shared. Where those two energies meet, 节 is born.
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