Wei Ji · Before Completion

Judgment and Plain-Language Notes

Wei Ji: Success. The little fox almost crosses, but wets its tail. Nothing is beneficial.

The Tuan commentary says Wei Ji still succeeds because the yielding line holds the centre. The small fox almost across wets its tail because it has not yet left the water and cannot carry through to the end, so nothing is gained. Though none of the six lines sits in its correct place, firm and yielding still answer one another, and that is where the hope lies. The Xiang image is fire above water, with the noble person carefully distinguishing things and settling each in its proper place.

Li above, Kan below. Fire sits over water, fire burns upward and water runs down, so the two never meet: the crossing has not been made. The sixty-four hexagrams close here, which says that nothing ever truly ends. Not one line is in its correct place, which looks like the worst case, yet the judgement opens with success, because firm and yielding still answer each other and nothing has hardened into its final shape. The lines run from a tail wet through rushing, through dragging the wheel and holding correct, a premature campaign that goes badly while the crossing itself remains worth doing, three years of effort finally rewarded, the light of the noble person resting on trust, and finally drinking that goes past the measure. Unfinished is not failure. Put things where they belong and leave the rest to time.

The judgment starts with success, and the commentary twice gives positive reasons: the yielding attains the center and firm and yielding respond. Though all six lines occupy inappropriate positions, response remains possible. The second nine's steadfast fortune, fourth's fortune with vanished regret and rewards after three years, and fifth six's steadfast fortune, no regret, and sincere noble radiance provide strong support. Negatives cluster at the ends: the wet tail without benefit, first six's regret, third's misfortune in advancing, and top's sincerity losing what is right. These arise from controllable rashness or excess rather than an externally hopeless situation, hence the rating: Rather Good. This is the app's interpretation of the text, not a guarantee of outcomes.

Worth doing: sort out conditions and sequence, and finish the preparation before taking the decisive step. Avoid: rushing to bank the result near the end, or confusing what belongs where and undoing the work already done.

Understand This Hexagram Through Its Structure

Li above, Kan below: the same perfect alternation, with every line in the opposite place.

• Name the upper and lower trigram of Wei Ji.
• State how Wei Ji relates to Ji Ji.
• Work out that Before Completion with its halves swapped is After Completion.

The lower trigram of Wei Ji is Kan: broken, solid, broken. The upper is Li: solid, broken, solid. From the bottom up the figure runs broken, solid, broken, solid, broken, solid — the line-by-line opposite of Ji Ji, and also the result of exchanging its halves.

The sixty-four hexagrams end with Wei Ji, not with Ji Ji. That ordering is itself a statement: the most orderly figure is not the last one; the last one is “not yet across”. Its structure alternates just as perfectly, only every line falls in the opposite place — the elements are all present and not yet matched to their positions, so the thing is still under way.

A teaching example, not a prediction: a project has everything it needs and has simply not been scheduled yet. Wei Ji describes that unfinished structure; it does not say it stays unfinished.

The Six Lines: Original Text and Reflection

Six at the beginning: Wetting the tail. Regret.

The Xiang commentary says wetting the tail shows that one does not know one's own limit. Regret here is awkwardness and falls short of misfortune.

You have barely entered the water and the tail is already wet, which is awkward. The problem is not luck but not knowing how far your capacity actually extends.

Trying to arrive in one move at the very start leaves you struggling at the first stage. Make an honest estimate of what you can carry now, then decide how large a step to take.

How far beyond your current ability is the thing you are planning?

Nine in the second place: Dragging the wheels. Steadfastness brings good fortune.

The Xiang commentary attributes the good fortune of correctness here to occupying the centre and conducting oneself properly, advancing by restraint.

You hold the wheel back so the cart moves slowly, and holding correct brings good fortune. Knowing how to slow down before the crossing is what keeps you steady.

At the stage before anything is finished, pace is usually more useful than drive. Set your speed to what you can hold for the long run, and then do not stop.

Can you keep your current pace until the work is finished?

Six in the third place: Before completion, advancing brings misfortune. Crossing the great river is beneficial.

The Xiang commentary attributes the misfortune of campaigning before the crossing to a position that does not fit. The line then says crossing the great water is favoured. The two halves have long been read together: attacking with present means goes badly, while the crossing itself remains possible, depending on timing, standing and method.

You set out to campaign before crossing, and it goes badly, yet crossing the great water is still favoured. Two outcomes sit in one sentence, and the difference lies in what standing and what method you use.

The same task can go wrong when forced and work when the approach or the timing changes. When you are blocked, check whether the thing is wrong or your current position is.

Is this blocked because the direction is wrong or because of where you are standing?

Nine in the fourth place: Steadfastness brings good fortune; regret vanishes. Use force to campaign against the Gui Fang. After three years, receive rewards from the great state.

The Xiang commentary says correctness and the disappearance of regret come from the will being carried out. The campaign against the Guifang again lasts three years, as in the third line of the preceding hexagram, but here a reward is explicitly granted.

Holding correct brings good fortune, regret disappears, and a vigorous campaign against the Guifang earns the reward of a great state after three years. Long effort pays off because the intention was actually carried through.

Things that genuinely matter rarely show a result within a year. If you believe the direction is right, give it three years' worth of patience, because the reward waits for the people who stay.

What have you worked at for a long time and are close to abandoning just before it shows?

Six in the fifth place: Steadfastness brings good fortune and no regret. The noble person's radiance, with sincerity. Good fortune.

The Xiang commentary speaks of the radiance of the noble person's light: it does not only illuminate the one who holds it but spreads outward with warmth.

Holding correct brings good fortune and no regret. The light of the noble person comes from sincerity within, which is why it is favourable. It is not a glare but a warmth that spreads.

The credit you build through how you deal with people eventually speaks for you. There is no need to perform; keep your integrity intact and the light reaches others by itself.

If someone put in one good word for you, what would you want it to be?

Nine at the top: Sincerity in drinking wine. No blame. Wetting the head: sincerity loses what is right.

The Xiang commentary says drinking until the head is wet shows one does not know moderation. Sincerity while drinking carries no fault, but the excess costs even that sincerity its rightness.

Drinking in good company with genuine feeling carries no fault, but drink until your head is soaked and you lose the measure, however sincere you were. The last line of the sixty-four is about restraint.

Celebrating is right, and celebrating past the point turns into something else. When you reach a milestone, let yourself enjoy it, and draw the line before you start.

The last time you relaxed too far, what were the circumstances?

Try It Yourself

Swap the halves and see which hexagram you return to. This pair closes the sixty-four.

This page has a hands-on exercise. It is built into the Traditional Chinese page: open the interactive exercise.

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