Hexagram 41
Decrease
損Sǔn
☶ Mountain above, ☱ Lake below
Below lies the lake and above it rises the mountain: the water gives off its vapor to the height, and that quiet offering from below to above speaks of decrease.
The JudgmentDecrease, joined with sincerity, brings supreme good fortune without blame. One can persevere in it; it is worthwhile to undertake something. How is it to be carried out? Two small bowls suffice for the offering. Less is not loss here but the right form: simplicity with a sincere heart weighs more than abundance with display.
The ImageAt the foot of the mountain, the lake: the image of decrease. Thus the noble one subdues his anger and bridles his passions. The lake at the mountain's foot evaporates upward and nourishes the height: the lower decreases in favor of the higher. Begin the decrease with yourself, with anger and craving; that is the one economy that is always gain.
InterpretationDecreasing is now the task: simplifying, pruning, cutting back to the core. It appears when means grow tight, when simplification becomes necessary, or when something inside you calls to throw off ballast. The key stands in the Judgment: decrease joined with sincerity. Carried willingly, the simplification costs only the frills and brings clarity; endured with resentment, it costs the joy as well. Two small bowls suffice for the offering: when the intention is right, nothing needs to be grand. And the deepest layer: decrease what is lower (impulse, craving, habit) in favor of what is higher. Such poverty is wealth in the making; what remains after the pruning will begin to grow.
Place in the sequenceAfter 40, Deliverance, something is certainly lost as the tension comes loose; release always costs something. Therefore Decrease follows. It forms a pair with 42 · Increase.
Nuclear hexagram
The nuclear hexagram of Decrease is 24 · Return: The turning point: after the darkest time the light returns of its own accord; protect the tender recovery and do not overtax it. It is formed from the inner lines and shows the hidden core of the situation.
The six lines
These texts belong to changing lines in a reading, from the bottom up.
Nine at the beginning
Leaving quickly once one's own work is done is without blame, but one must weigh how much one diminishes others.
Help as soon as your own work is finished: quickly, quietly, asking nothing in return. But weigh two things: how much you take from yourself (giving without measure weakens the giver) and how much the receiver can accept without feeling indebted or humbled. Helping is a delicate craft: too little leaves the other stranded, too much presses them down. Give generously, and with measure.
Nine in the second place
Perseverance brings reward; undertaking something brings misfortune.
Without decreasing oneself, one can increase others. Serving must not cost you your dignity: those who lower themselves to please increase no one, not even the receiver. Stay in your own place and give from your strength; that truly enriches the other. Help born of servility is a double loss: you lose yourself, and the other receives something that tastes of duty. Self-respect is not selfishness; it is the quality guarantee of your giving.
Six in the third place
When three travel together, their number is lessened by one; when one travels alone, a companion is found.
The arithmetic secret of closeness: three is one too many, one is one too few, two is the number of the bond. In every trio rivalry grows until someone drops away; daring to go alone attracts the right second. Some bonds (a marriage, a deep friendship, a creative duo) ask for exclusive attention. Not everything gets better with more people added; what is deepest only becomes rarer.
Six in the fourth place
When someone decreases his faults, he makes the other hasten to come and rejoice:
no blame. The most appealing form of self-improvement: filing down your sharp edges so that being near you becomes easier for others. Everyone has traits that make the door heavy: the prickliness, the know-it-all streak, the eternal need to be right. Work on those, and watch who suddenly dares to knock. Self-improvement invites; self-justification keeps the door locked.
Six in the fifth placeruling line
Someone increases him beyond doubt:
ten pairs of tortoises cannot contradict it; supreme good fortune. In the midst of the time of decrease the tide turns for you personally: you are enriched, and nothing can stop it; even ten oracle tortoises would confirm it. Such irresistible favor need not be distrusted, nor earned after the fact: accept it as it comes. The only right answer to unearned blessing is to use it well; gratitude shows itself in spending, not in embarrassment.
Nine at the top
If one is increased without decreasing others:
no blame. Perseverance brings good fortune; it is worthwhile to undertake something. One gains servants, but no longer a house of one's own. The end of decrease turns into its opposite: wealth that costs no one anything, growth in which everyone gains. Those who are increased this way and let it flow straight onward gain helpers from every direction and no longer belong exclusively anywhere: the whole world becomes their house. That is not the loss of home but its widest form: living truly for the whole means being welcomed everywhere.