Decrease — deliberate reduction that strengthens what matters.
Letting go of excess now enriches what truly counts. Sincere simplicity outweighs costly display. Decrease below to increase above; sacrifice rightly placed returns to you.
decreasesacrificesimplicityrestraint
Decrease places Mountain (still, resting) above Lake (joyous, open). The interplay of these two trigrams gives the hexagram its character.
The Classical Textoriginal Chinese
The Judgment · 卦辞
有孚，元吉，无咎，可贞，利有攸往？曷之用，二簋可用享。
The Image · 大象
山下有泽，损；君子以惩忿窒欲。
The Six Lines · 爻辞
- 初九已事遄往，无咎，酌损之。象曰：已事遄往，尚合志也。
- 九二利贞，征凶，弗损益之。象曰：九二利贞，中以为志也。
- 六三三人行，则损一人；一人行，则得其友。象曰：一人行，三则疑也。
- 六四损其疾，使遄有喜，无咎。象曰：损其疾，亦可喜也。
- 六五或益之，十朋之龟弗克违，元吉。象曰：六五元吉，自上佑也。
- 上九弗损益之，无咎，贞吉，利有攸往，得臣无家。象曰：弗损益之，大得志也。
The judgment, image and line texts above are quoted from the original Zhou Yi. A modern Chinese translation of the full classic is available on the original-text page.