No. 41 Decrease
山泽损 · Sǔn · Lake under Mountain
“Cut something away on purpose. What you give up here is what buys the room.”
Lower trigram ☱ Lake 兑 — open exchange & shared ease
Upper trigram ☶ Mountain 艮 — stillness & boundary
Trigram: a three-line symbolic figure that forms one half of an I Ching hexagram.
- Deliberate cutting
- Simplification
- Sincere loss
- Measured restraint
- Less clutter
Introduction
Below the lake lies the mountain: deep waters held in check by still stone. Decrease pictures passion kept within bounds.
In practice, this names a stretch where cutting back is the useful move. The point is not loss for its own sake but removing what blocks the way.
The judgement
“Decrease combined with sincerity brings supreme good. No blame. Perseverance furthers. Two small bowls suffice for the sacrifice.”
In plain words: cutting back works when done sincerely, and persistence keeps it working.
Read it as a note about sufficiency rather than scarcity. A smaller offering made honestly tends to count for more than a large one made for show.
Core themes
- Cutting here is chosen. Losing by accident is not the same thing.
- A small honest offering tends to outweigh a large performative one.
- Removing what blocks you tends to be worth more than adding something new.
Line-by-line overview
Six lines, read bottom to top — matching the figure above.
Each line describes one stage in an evolving situation. Line 1 marks the earliest, foundational beginning; line 6 shows where the pattern has run its course. Open a line to read it.
Line 1 初九
At the base you stop your own task and answer the call immediately.
The old line says there is no fault, provided the amount given is weighed first.
Quick help tends to cost less than help given late and grudgingly.
Line 2 九二
Here persistence is called for and new undertakings are not.
The old line finds no decrease in you and increase for the person you are serving.
Knowing which one of those you are doing tends to settle the whole question.
Line 3 六三
At this level, a third presence makes the pair unstable, and the old line says one is lost.
Walking alone, the old line says, is how the companion is found.
Two is often the working number.
Line 4 六四
Here a long-standing fault is finally cut out.
The old line says the relief arrives fast and carries no blame.
Removing one bad habit tends to lift more than adding three good ones.
Line 5 六五
At the centre something arrives that nobody predicted in scale.
The old line says no counter-argument stands against it.
Receiving without suspicion tends to be harder than receiving without pride.
Line 6 上九
At the top the line neither takes from itself nor adds to others, and the old line still calls it blameless.
The image is of gaining people and giving up a private household.
Holding a position without extracting from it tends to attract company.
Summary
Read as a whole, this figure asks you to choose the cut deliberately. Weigh what you give, remove the one thing that blocks you, and let the smaller offering be sincere.
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Hexagram 41 · Decrease 损
A way to look at what is moving around you now, not a fixed answer. Notice your inner state, then decide how to act.
Something in the bond needs cutting rather than discussing.
Most long-standing friction tends to trace back to one repeating habit rather than a general incompatibility.
People often try to add warmth on top of an unresolved grievance. Added warmth tends to slide off a grievance that was never named.
Cut the habit first.
Ultimately, your real-world facts and personal choices will shape how things unfold.
This hexagram contains 1 changing line. You may read detailed line interpretations inside the full hexagram-knowledge page. If you want to deepen your understanding of changing lines and line positions, please visit our I-Ching six-line learning page.
Read the full guide →- Name the one recurring behaviour that costs the most here. A named habit tends to be workable. A vague sense of incompatibility tends to be hopeless.
- Notice what you receive in this bond and whether you let it count. Counted kindness tends to change the atmosphere; uncounted kindness tends to change nothing.
Related reading
Short reads from the blog. A changing line is a line that may shift as a situation moves.
Working with changing lines
Learn about changing lines and how to interpret them
Expectation & inner honesty
Set proper expectations before your reflection reading
Understanding changing lines
What a shrinking line is telling you.
Related hexagrams
Increase · 益
Read it the other way up
No. 40Deliverance · 解
The hexagram before this one
No. 39Obstruction · 蹇
The hexagram before this one
If you would like to browse all 64 hexagrams, visit All 64 Hexagrams.
If you would like to learn about static hexagrams and the interpretation rules for changing lines within I-Ching, please visit our general guide: Understanding Changing & Static Lines.