Hexagram 41: Decrease (山泽损 Decrease)
Decrease (山泽损, Shǎn Zé Sǔn), the forty-first of the sixty-four hexagrams in the I Ching, consists of Mountain (艮, Gèn) above and Lake (兑, Duì) below. It is classified as a "Mixed Hexagram" (杂卦) and symbolizes decrease, depletion, benefiting the superior by diminishing the inferior, and benefiting others by diminishing oneself. Its image is that of "Mountain above, Lake below," where the waters of the lake recede to nourish the mountain—a representation of deepening the valley to raise the hill. The core meaning is "The mountain holds the lake within it: Decrease. The superior person curbs his anger and restrains his desires." It governs diminishing excess to supplement deficiency, reducing private desire to increase public good, and sacrificing to achieve perfection. Generally an auspicious hexagram, it reveals the principles of decreasing to benefit others, decreasing to cultivate virtue, and decreasing the firm to augment the yielding.
Diagram and Judgment
The Diagram
Decrease (山泽损)
Hexagram 41 · Mountain above, Lake below · Decrease
Upper Trigram: Mountain (艮 ☶)Lower Trigram: Lake (兑 ☱)Five Elements: Earth and Metal (Mountain is Earth, Lake is Metal)
Symbolizing the Way revealed by Hexagram Decrease.
The Judgment
Decrease (损): There is sincerity and thus supreme good fortune. No blame. One may persevere. It furthers one to undertake something. What use may one make of this? Two small bowls may be used for offerings.
Interpretation: The hexagram Decrease symbolizes diminishment. With a sincere heart, there is supreme good fortune, no blame, and correctness may be maintained. It is beneficial to go forward. How can this (principle) be manifested? Even two simple bowls of food can be used as offerings. This implies that the Way of Decrease values sincerity; simplicity and genuineness are enough to communicate with the spirits.
The Line Statements
Line 1 (First Nine): Setting your affairs aside, you may hurry to assist. No blame. But consider well before you decrease it.
已事遄往，无咎；酌损之。 Interpretation: Concluding your own business, you quickly go to assist those above. No blame; you diminish yourself as appropriate. At the beginning of decrease, act according to your capacity and do not decrease recklessly.
Line 2 (Nine in the Second Place): It furthers one to persevere. Attack means misfortune. Without decreasing, one may increase it.
利贞，征凶。弗损，益之。 Interpretation: It is beneficial to be correct; to advance will bring misfortune. There is no need to decrease; one may instead be increased. The firm line in the central position must uphold correctness; do not diminish oneself or act recklessly.
Line 3 (Six in the Third Place): When three people journey together, their number decreases by one. When one man journeys alone, he finds a companion.
三人行，则损一人；一人行，则得其友。 Interpretation: If three people travel together, one is lost. If one travels alone, he finds a friend. Yin and yang cherish union; decrease the excessive to achieve oneness.
Line 4 (Six in the Fourth Place): If you decrease your defects, it makes the other hasten to come and rejoice. No blame.
损其疾，使遄有喜，无咎。 Interpretation: Decreasing your own ailments brings swift joy and good fortune. No blame. Remove the source of your troubles, and beneficial results arrive quickly.
Line 5 (Six in the Fifth Place): Someone does indeed increase him. Ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it. Supreme good fortune.
或益之十朋之龟，弗克违，元吉。 Interpretation: Someone presents a precious tortoise worth ten pairs of cowries, and you cannot refuse. Supreme good fortune. The honorable one acts with sincerity, and heaven bestows increase and blessings.
Line 6 (Nine at the Top): If you do not decrease it, you increase it. No blame. It furthers one to persevere. It furthers one to undertake something. One obtains a servant without a home (no particular household).
弗损，益之，无咎，贞吉。利有攸往，得臣无家。 Interpretation: It is not necessary to decrease; instead, one receives increase. No blame, correctness brings good fortune. It is beneficial to go forward. You will gain the service of all the worthy ministers of the world.
Core Symbolism
The upper trigram, Mountain (艮), stands for stillness and stopping; the lower trigram, Lake (兑), stands for joy and communication. The vitality (qi) of the lake decreases to nourish the substance of the mountain—diminishing the lower to benefit the higher, and decreasing the yielding to augment the firm. This symbolizes the active diminishment of oneself, the restraint of personal desires, and sacrificing personal benefit for others—making decrease itself a form of benefit. This corresponds to human affairs like lessening desires, sacrificing personal gain for the public good, correcting faults by reduction, and yielding advantage to others. It governs "curbing anger and restraining desires," diminishing excess to benefit deficiency, and carrying out decrease with sincerity. It warns that decrease without sincerity, or decrease that goes against the Way, leads to misfortune.
The six lines of the Decrease hexagram revolve around the Path of Decrease:
- Line 1 (Nine at the bottom): Hurries to assist above, decreasing oneself in measured amount.
- Line 2 (Nine in the second place): Cannot decrease recklessly; may instead be increased.
- Line 3 (Six in the third place): Losing one in three, achieving balance and gaining a partner.
- Line 4 (Six in the fourth place): Decreases its ailments and swiftly gains joyful fortune.
- Line 5 (Six in the fifth place): Receives heaven-sent increase and blessings—supreme good fortune.
- Line 6 (Nine at the top): Does not decrease but is increased, gaining ministers from across the land. The overall core is "Decreasing to benefit others, curbing anger and restraining desires; what seems like decrease is, in reality, increase."
Phenomena Classification (万物类象)
- Hexagram Nature: Mixed hexagram; above stillness, below joy; mountain over lake; decreasing the lower to benefit the higher.
- Five Elements: Earth and Metal (Mountain is Earth, Lake is Metal).
- Directions: Northeast and West.
- Season and Timing: Late Autumn, when the lake's vitality decreases and the mountain's substance becomes solid.
- People: Those who sacrifice personal gain for the public good, noble persons who yield advantage, and those who subdue themselves to cultivate virtue.
- Body: Spleen, stomach, lungs, and mouth; governs decreasing selfish desires and harmonizing Qi and blood.
- Animals: Goats, tigers, beasts of mountain and marsh.
- Objects and Tools: Food vessels (簋, guǐ), ritual vessels for sacrifices, implements for reduction.
- Places: Mountainous marshes, ancestral temples, places of ritual offering.
- Human Affairs: Benefiting others by diminishing oneself, subduing oneself and restraining desires, decreasing to make up a deficiency, making sacrificial offerings to the spirits.
- Colors: Yellow, White, Brown.
- Five Flavors: Sweet, Acrid/Pungent.
- Numbers: 5, 7, 2.
Original Texts
Hexagram Judgment and Line Statements
Mountain over Lake, Decrease (山泽损): 损：有孚，元吉，无咎，可贞。利有攸往。曷之用？二簋可用享。First Nine (初九): 已事遄往，无咎；酌损之。 Nine in the Second Place (九二): 利贞，征凶。弗损，益之。 Six in the Third Place (六三): 三人行，则损一人；一人行，则得其友。 Six in the Fourth Place (六四): 损其疾，使遄有喜，无咎。 Six in the Fifth Place (六五): 或益之十朋之龟，弗克违，元吉。 Nine at the Top (上九): 弗损，益之，无咎，贞吉。利有攸往，得臣无家。
Treatise on the Judgments (Tuan Zhuan 彖传)
《彖》曰：损，损下益上，其道上行。损而有孚，元吉，无咎，可贞，利有攸往。曷之用？二簋可用享。二簋应有时，损刚益柔有时。损益盈虚，与时偕行。
Interpretation: The hexagram Decrease means diminishing what is below to increase what is above; its Way moves upward. When decrease is accompanied by sincerity, there is supreme good fortune, no blame, correctness may be maintained, and it is beneficial to go forward. "What use may one make of this? Two small bowls may be used for offerings." The use of two bowls must be timely; diminishing the firm and augmenting the yielding also has its season. Increase and decrease, fullness and emptiness—they act in harmony with the times.
Treatise on the Images (Xiang Zhuan 象传)
《象》曰：山下有泽，损。君子以惩忿窒欲。
Interpretation: A mountain above with a lake below: this constitutes the image of Decrease. The superior person, in accordance with this, restrains his anger and curbs his desires.
《象》曰：
- 已事遄往，尚合志也。
- 九二利贞，中以为志也。
- 一人行，三则疑也。
- 损其疾，亦可喜也。
- 六五元吉，自上祐也。
- 弗损益之，大得志也。
Interpretation: "Setting your affairs aside, you may hurry"—this indicates that one's will is in harmony with the superior. "Nine in the second place: It furthers one to persevere"—this one holds the middle as his ideal. "One man journeys alone, he finds a companion"—with three, there would be doubt and discord. "If you decrease your defects, it makes the other hasten to come"—this is a matter for joy. "Six in the fifth place: supreme good fortune"—this is blessing coming from above. "If you do not decrease it, you increase it"—the great will is fulfilled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hexagram Decrease (山泽损) mainly auspicious or inauspicious?
Answer: Hexagram Decrease is a moderately auspicious hexagram. When decrease is undertaken with sincerity, sacrificing personal benefit for the public good, and conforming to the time, it brings good fortune. However, reckless decrease lacking in sincerity, which harms virtue and indulges desire, leads to misfortune.
What does "curbing anger and restraining desires" (惩忿窒欲) mean in Hexagram Decrease?
Answer: It means to control anger and curb greed or covetous desires. By reducing one's own selfish desires, one cultivates virtue. This is the core of the Way of Decrease.
What situations or scenarios is Hexagram Decrease appropriate for?
Answer: It is suitable for situations like yielding advantage to others, disciplining and cultivating oneself, reducing personal desires, and making sincere ritual offerings. It is not suitable for situations characterized by greedy seeking or profiting at others' expense (decreasing others to benefit oneself).
What insights for conduct and relationships can be gained from obtaining Hexagram Decrease in a consultation?
Answer: One should practice self-restraint, curb desires, be sincere, and yield advantage. Line 5 (the sixth line in the fifth place) signifies heavenly-bestowed increase and blessings, representing the most auspicious outcome. Line 6 at the top shows not decreasing but being increased. One must avoid actions that decrease virtue or are reckless.
What is the relationship between Hexagram Decrease (损) and Hexagram Increase (益)?
Answer: Decrease focuses on diminishing the lower to benefit the higher, and diminishing oneself to benefit others. Increase focuses on diminishing the higher to benefit the lower, and benefiting the people or all things. They are complementary opposites (a 'symmetric hexagram' pair), one decreasing and the other increasing, representing opposites that complete each other.
FAQ
What does the Hexagram "Decrease" fundamentally represent?
The Hexagram Decrease (山泽损) fundamentally symbolizes the principle of beneficial decrease. Its core idea is to diminish the excessive or the self to benefit others or a greater cause. The imagery of Mountain above Lake signifies how the waters (the yielding, joyful Lake) recede to nourish the stable Mountain. This represents sacrificing the lower or personal interests to fortify the higher or the collective good, encapsulating concepts like cultivating virtue through restraint, correcting faults through reduction, and achieving perfection through sacrifice.
Is Hexagram 41 generally considered auspicious or inauspicious?
Yes, Decrease is generally an auspicious hexagram, especially when the act of decreasing is undertaken with sincerity. The Judgment states, "There is sincerity and thus supreme good fortune. No blame. One may persevere." It indicates that decreasing for the right reasons—such as curbing excessive desires, aiding others, or making sincere offerings (even simple ones)—leads to positive outcomes. Misfortune only arises if the decrease is insincere, reckless, or contravenes the natural order (the "Way").
How should I interpret the line about "two small bowls" used for offerings?
The line, "What use may one make of this? Two small bowls may be used for offerings," from the Judgment emphasizes that sincerity and genuineness matter more than material extravagance. In the context of Decrease, it teaches that the virtue lies in the intent to give and sacrifice, not the scale of the sacrifice itself. A modest, heartfelt offering is sufficient to "communicate with the spirits" or, in a practical sense, to demonstrate commitment and integrity, which brings good fortune.
What is the key lesson from Line 2: "Without decreasing, one may increase it"?
Line 2 (Nine in the Second Place) advises maintaining correctness (zhen) without forcing a decrease. The situation calls for holding firm in a central, balanced position. "To advance will bring misfortune" warns against taking aggressive action or diminishing oneself unnecessarily. The line reveals that there are times within the broader process of "Decrease" where the wise course is not to reduce but to stand firm, allowing natural increase to come. It balances the hexagram's theme by cautioning against thoughtless or excessive diminishment.
In modern life, what does "decreasing to benefit others" mean?
In a modern context, "decreasing to benefit others" can be applied as a principle of self-restraint and generosity for the greater good. Examples include voluntarily reducing personal consumption or profit to support a team, a community project, or environmental sustainability. It means curbing selfish desires (anger, greed) and allocating resources—time, energy, wealth—to uplift others. This deliberate, sincere sacrifice builds trust, strengthens social bonds, and ultimately leads to collective and personal benefit, aligning with the hexagram's auspicious nature.
How does the concept of Yin and Yang relate to Line 3's "three people" and "one person"?
Line 3 ("When three people journey together, their number decreases by one. When one man journeys alone, he finds a companion") illustrates the natural tendency towards Yin-Yang pairing and balance. A group of three is unstable and excessive; decreasing by one creates a harmonious pair (Yin and Yang). Conversely, one person (symbolizing singularity or imbalance) naturally attracts a complementary companion to achieve union. The lesson is that decrease, when applied to excess, leads to harmony and unity, which is a fundamental principle in the I Ching.
What does "curbing anger and restraining desires" from the core symbolism practically involve?
The core symbolism advises the superior person to "curb his anger and restrains his desires." Practically, this involves self-cultivation through mindfulness and discipline. It means pausing (Mountain's stillness) before reacting in anger and consciously reducing (Lake's depletion) selfish cravings or impulses. By actively diminishing these negative emotional forces, one conserves inner vitality and directs it towards constructive, joyful (Lake) communication and action for the benefit of all, thus transforming personal decrease into universal gain.
If I receive Hexagram Decrease regarding a decision, should I always sacrifice something?
Not necessarily. While Decrease often involves sacrifice, its counsel is nuanced. The hexagram advises sincere decrease for a greater benefit. However, lines like Line 2 and Line 6 suggest scenarios where decrease is not required, and increase comes naturally. The key is to assess your situation: Is there excess, imbalance, or a need to support something higher (a principle, a community, a long-term goal)? If so, decreasing with sincerity is wise. If you are already in a correct and balanced position, forceful sacrifice may be unnecessary. The Judgment's "It furthers one to undertake something" implies that after proper decrease, positive action is beneficial.