Hexagram 60 — Articulating
King Wen #60 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
Limitation. Measured restraint makes things work — but do not bind too tightly.
What Hexagram 60 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 60 places lake (兑) beneath water (坎) — joy lifting what it touches below, water finding its way through hard gaps above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Articulating”: limitation. Measured restraint makes things work — but do not bind too tightly. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
澤上有水，節；君子以制數度，議德行。
(The trigram representing) a lake, and above it that for water, form Kieh. The superior man, in accordance with this, constructs his (methods of) numbering and measurement, and discusses (points of) virtue and conduct.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Water held above the marsh: limitation. The wise set measures and bounds, and weigh conduct by them.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 60 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Articulating describes limitation. Measured restraint makes things work — but do not bind too tightly — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: joy lifting what it touches, held inside a larger setting of water finding its way through hard gaps. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Articulating about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: limitation. Measured restraint makes things work — but do not bind too tightly. When lines move in your cast, read them against this base — the moving lines show which part of the figure is awake for you, and the changed hexagram shows where it is heading.
Questions About Hexagram 60
What does 節 (jié) mean?
Hexagram 60 of the I Ching is named 節 (jié), usually rendered "Articulating" in English editions. Its figure is built from lake (兑) below and water (坎) above — joy lifting what it touches beneath water finding its way through hard gaps.
Is hexagram 60 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 60 is warm: it contains one occurrence of 吉 (good fortune), 2 of 凶 (misfortune), and 2 of 無咎 (no blame). The classical verdict is broadly favourable — with the lines' own conditions attached (the text notes possible regret 悔 where the moment is mishandled).
What does hexagram 60 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Articulating points to limitation. Measured restraint makes things work — but do not bind too tightly. The figure pairs lake (兑) beneath water (坎) — joy lifting what it touches meeting water finding its way through hard gaps — which is the traditional picture of how this energy behaves between two people. For how to phrase a love question before casting, see our guide to asking the I Ching about love.
What does hexagram 60 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Articulating through the figure itself: lake (兑) below, water (坎) above — joy lifting what it touches held inside water finding its way through hard gaps. The plain reading: Limitation. Measured restraint makes things work — but do not bind too tightly. The text carries 1 mention of 吉 (good fortune) and 2 of 凶 (misfortune), so it is read as workable — provided the conduct the lines describe is kept.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 60 mean?
A cast of hexagram 60 can produce moving lines. Each of the six lines has its own statement (爻辭) in the classical text below, read from the bottom up, and a moving line is read as the part of the figure that is awake for your question. When a line moves it turns into its opposite, and the whole figure becomes a second hexagram: changing every line of 60 gives hexagram 56, 旅 (Sojourning). Every line also has a page of its own on this site — Line 1 through Line 6 under this hexagram — with the classical Chinese and Legge's translation side by side.
How is hexagram 60 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 60 gives hexagram 56 — 旅 (Sojourning). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 59 — 渙 (Dispersing). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 27 — 頤 (Swallowing).
Cast it yourself
Shake the tube, watch your own coins fall.
- The hexagram's classical meaning — judgment and all six lines
- Moving lines marked — but not read for you
- No account, no email, nothing to pay
Get the reading, not just the text
Same cast, read all the way through:
- Every line read for you — what each moving line means inside your question
- The changed hexagram — where your situation is heading, and how to read the turn
- A closing that answers you directly — act, wait, or say it out loud
New to casting? How it works · All 64 hexagrams
Related Hexagrams 錯綜互
The Classical Text 經文
亨，苦節，不可貞。
Jie intimates that (under its conditions) there will be progress and attainment. (But) if the regulations (which it prescribes) be severe and difficult, they cannot be permanent.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
不出戶庭，無咎。
The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject not quitting the courtyard outside his door. There will be no error.
不出門庭，凶。
The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject not quitting the courtyard inside his gate. There will be evil.
不節若，則嗟若，無咎。
The third SIX, divided, shows its subject with no appearance of observing the (proper) regulations, in which case we shall see him lamenting. But there will be no one to blame (but himself).
安節，亨。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject quietly and naturally (attentive to all) regulations. There will be progress and success.
甘節，吉。往有尚。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject sweetly and acceptably enacting his regulations. There will be good fortune. The onward progress with them will afford ground for admiration.
苦節，貞凶，悔亡。
The topmost SIX, divided, shows its subject enacting regulations severe and difficult. Even with firmness and correctness there will be evil. But though there will be cause for repentance, it will (by and by) disappear.
Line by Line 逐爻细读
1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text.2 The Image (象傳) is an ancient text in the public domain; its plain-English gloss here is original to The Hexagrams, not a quotation from any copyrighted edition. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.