Hexagram 41 · 山泽损

Decrease

Earth · Gen palace

Voluntary reduction; sacrifice that creates balance.

Meaning

A lake below a mountain: the lower giving to the higher. Decrease describes reduction undertaken deliberately, usually in the interest of restoring balance.

Decision Framework

Reduce deliberately; take from the excess.

Decision Guidance

Decrease concerns subtraction, and its classical treatment is unexpectedly positive. The hexagram holds that genuine reduction, undertaken at the right time and honestly, produces gain: it clears what was blocking movement.

What it recommends is a considered sacrifice—cutting scope, spending savings, giving up an advantage—applied where there is surplus, and above all done sincerely rather than grudgingly. The caution attached is about timing and proportion: reduce where there is excess, not where the situation depends on what you are removing.

Judgment — Classical Text

有孚，元吉，无咎，可贞。

EN With sincerity, supreme good fortune, no blame, you may persevere. Two small bowls may be offered.

The Six Lines — Classical Text

初九：已事遄往，无咎，酌损之。
EN Initial nine: finish your affairs and hurry to help — no blame; consider how much to reduce.
九二：利贞，征凶，弗损益之。
EN Nine in the second: perseverance furthers; advancing brings misfortune; do not reduce, and increase it.
六三：三人行则损一人，一人行则得其友。
EN Six in the third: three walking together lose one; one walking alone finds a companion.
六四：损其疾，使遄有喜，无咎。
EN Six in the fourth: reducing his illness and making him hurry brings joy — no blame.
六五：或益之十朋之龟，弗克违，元吉。
EN Six in the fifth: someone adds a tortoise worth ten pairs of shells — you cannot refuse: supreme good fortune.
上九：弗损益之，无咎，贞吉。
EN Topmost nine: not reducing but increasing — no blame; perseverance brings good fortune; the gain of a household and the use of a servant.

Keywords

I Ching hexagram 41, Decrease hexagram, Sun hexagram meaning, hexagram for sacrifice