A source-first reading note for Hexagram 48, Jing (The Well), with a reference translation, trigram frame, and one reversible observation practice.
Reference translation
The Well. The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed. It neither decreases nor increases. Men come and go and draw from the well. If the rope does not reach all the way down, or if the jug is broken before it is drawn up, there is misfortune. The Commentary on the Decision says: One enters into the water and brings the water up: thus is the Well. The well nourishes and is not exhausted. "The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed," for it is firm and central. "It nearly reaches the top, but the rope has not yet brought the jug clear of the well" — the work is not yet accomplished. "The jug is broken" — therefore misfortune. The Commentary on the Image says: Above the wood is water: the image of the Well. Thus the superior man encourages the people at their labors, and exhorts them to help one another.
See the original-text and authority layers in the complete catalog entry.
Context from the authority layer
A well is constituted as a well by what lies beneath; yet a well is able to nourish the people only by what lies above. Hence the Xiang says, "Above the wood there is water." Because the well does not move, the people are able to settle; because virtue does not waver, the gentleman cultivates his virtue. According to the conventions of the hexagrams, Xun is associated with instruction and governmental edicts. Thus the gentleman, contemplating the image of Jing, comes to understand that the well's water sustains people without limit, and likewise that moral instruction transforms people without limit.
Read the structure before the slogan
The lower trigram is 巽 (风), associated in the bundled corpus with 入; the upper trigram is 坎 (水), associated with 陷. Read the lower trigram as the inner or starting field and the upper trigram as the outward field before turning the pattern into advice.
One accountable observation practice
Copy one concrete verb, condition, or image from the reference translation for Hexagram 48. Name one place where it is observable in the situation you are examining. Then choose one small step you can reverse and write the condition that would make you review it.
Common misread to avoid
Do not turn The Well into a personality label, a guaranteed event, or a verdict about another person. The translation and trigram frame are source layers to examine, not an instruction to surrender judgment.
Source boundary
The reference translation and context are drawn from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi authority layer. Yarrow keeps that layer separate from optional modern reflection. This page does not claim that Hexagram 48 was cast for your question.