In ancient China the capital cities were sometimes moved, partly for the sake of more favorable location, partly because of a change in dynasties. The style of architecture changed in the course of centuries, but the shape of the well has remained the same from ancient times to this day. Thus the well is the symbol of that social structure which, evolved by mankind in meeting its most primitive needs, is independent of all political forms. Political structures change, as do nations, but the life of man with its needs remains eternally the same—this cannot be changed. Life is also inexhaustible. It grows neither less nor more; it exists for one and for all. The generations come and go, and all enjoy life in its inexhaustible abundance. However, there are two prerequisites for a satisfactory political or social organization of mankind. We must go down to the very foundations of life. For any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made. Carelessness—by which the jug is broken—is also disastrous. If for instance the military defense of a state is carried to such excess 412that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated, this is a breaking of the jug. This hexagram applies also to the individual. However men may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone. And every human being can draw in the course of his education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man’s nature. But here likewise two dangers threaten: a man may fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention—a partial education of this sort is as bad as none—or he may suddenly collapse and neglect his self-development.

Wood goes down into the water and lifts the water upward: this is the Well. The well nourishes and does not run dry. The town may be changed, but the well may not be changed because firmness is in the middle. If one almost reaches the water but has not yet lowered the rope into the well, there is as yet no achievement. If the vessel breaks, there is misfortune.

The trigram Sun, wood, is below, and the trigram K’an, water, is above it. Wood sucks water upward. Just as wood as an organism imitates the action of the well, which benefits all parts of the plant, the superior man organizes human society, so that, as in a plant organism, its parts co-operate for the benefit of the whole.

Primary text: Zhouyi / I Ching, including the Judgment, Image, line texts, and related commentaries.

Translation basis: public-domain and modern study references, with AI used only as a learning aid.

Zhouyi / I Ching primary text: The received text of the Book of Changes, including the Judgment, Image, and line statements.

The I Ching or Book of Changes, Richard Wilhelm / Cary F. Baynes: Princeton University Press translation used as a major English-language reference point for names, structure, and commentary framing.

The Sacred Books of China: The Texts of Confucianism, James Legge: Classical English reference used for comparative reading of source terminology and commentarial tradition.