Hexagram 64: Before Completion
Wei Ji · 未濟
The Judgment
Success. But if the little fox, after nearly completing the crossing, gets his tail in the water, there is nothing that would further. The conditions are difficult. The task is great and full of responsibility—nothing less than leading the world out of confusion back to order. But it is a task that promises success, because there is a goal that can unite the forces now tending in different directions. At first, however, one must move warily, like an old fox walking over ice. His ears are constantly alert to the cracking of the ice as he carefully searches out the safest spots. A young fox who has not acquired this caution goes ahead boldly and may fall in and get his tail wet. In times 'before completion,' deliberation and caution are the prerequisites of success.
The Image
Fire over water. Be careful in the differentiation of things, so that each finds its place. When fire, which by nature flames upward, is above, and water, which flows downward, is below, their effects take opposite directions and remain unrelated. If we wish to achieve an effect, we must first investigate the nature of the forces in question and ascertain their proper place. If we can bring these forces to bear in the right place, they will have the desired effect and completion will be achieved. But in order to handle external forces properly, we must above all arrive at the correct standpoint ourselves, for only from this vantage can we work correctly.
「火在水上，未濟。」火往上燒，水往下流，方向相反，互不相干。要產生效果，必須先研究各種力量的性質，找到它們合適的位置。把力量放對地方，就能達到效果，完成就會實現。但要正確處理外在的力量，首先要讓自己站對位置——只有從正確的立足點出發，才能正確地工作。
The Six Lines
He gets his tail in the water. Humiliating. In times of disorder there is a temptation to advance yourself as rapidly as possible in order to accomplish something tangible. But this enthusiasm leads only to failure and humiliation if the time for achievement has not yet arrived. In such a time it is wise to spare yourself the opprobrium of failure by holding back.
He brakes his wheels. Persistence brings good fortune. The time to act has not yet come. But the patience needed is not that of idle waiting without thought of the morrow. Kept up indefinitely, this would not lead to any success. Instead, develop in yourself the strength that will enable you to go forward. You must have a vehicle to effect the crossing. But for the time being, use the brakes. Patience in the highest sense means putting brakes on strength.
Before completion, attack brings misfortune. It furthers one to cross the great water. The time of transition has arrived, but you lack the strength to complete it. Attempting to force it would result in disaster. What is to be done? A new situation must be created; engage the energies of able helpers and in this fellowship take the decisive step—cross the great water. Then completion will become possible.
Persistence brings good fortune. Remorse disappears. Shock, thus to discipline the Devil's Country. For three years, great realms are awarded. Now it is the time of struggle. The transition must be completed. Make yourself strong in resolution; this brings good fortune. All misgivings that might arise in such grave times of struggle must be silenced. It is a question of a fierce battle to break the forces of decadence. But the struggle also has its reward. Now is the time to lay the foundations of power and mastery for the future.
Persistence brings good fortune. No remorse. The light of the superior person is true. Good fortune. The victory has been won. The power of steadfastness has not been routed. Everything has gone well. All misgivings have been overcome. Success has justified the deed. The light of a superior personality shines forth anew and makes its influence felt among those who have faith in it and rally around it. The new time has arrived, and with it good fortune.
There is drinking of wine in genuine confidence. No blame. But if one wets his head, he loses it, in truth. Before completion, at the dawning of the new time, friends foregather in an atmosphere of mutual trust, and the time of waiting is passed in conviviality. Since the new era is hard on the threshold, there is no blame in this. But one must be careful to keep within proper bounds. If in exuberance a person gets drunk, they forfeit the favorableness of the situation through intemperance. The Book of Changes is a book of the future. Every end contains a new beginning. Thus it gives hope.
Artwork & Treatise
The Veteran in a New Field
Winslow Homer, 1865
A lone farmer swings his scythe through wheat, Union jacket discarded at the field's edge. Winslow Homer painted this in 1865, just months after the Civil War's end. The man who wore that blue coat weeks earlier now harvests grain, his scythe cutting in rhythmic strokes. War has ended but peace has not yet been established—he stands between identities, soldier and civilian, destroyer and cultivator. The harvest itself marks transition: wheat falling before the blade, stalks that will become bread, destruction that enables nourishment.
Homer captures Wei Ji (未濟), Before Completion—Fire above Water, Li over Kan. This hexagram inverts hexagram 63's structure: fire strains upward while water sinks downward, their natural movements pulling apart. No lines occupy ideal positions—yang sits in even places, yin in odd places. Yet this disorder contains potential; everything remains possible because nothing has fixed. The character 未濟 means "not yet across," the river yet unforded, work approaching but not reaching conclusion. The veteran stands at this threshold, his old life ended but new life not yet established. Zhou Dynasty diviners saw this configuration at transitional moments—between war and peace, winter and spring, intention and realization.
{artwork_reasoning}
The Judgment addresses the veteran's position: "Before Completion. Success. But if the little fox, after nearly completing the crossing, gets his tail in the water, there is nothing that would further." Ancient texts describe the young fox crossing ice, nearly across but still in danger—one careless step and it breaks through. The veteran must maintain focus through this final transition, neither celebrating prematurely nor losing attention before the threshold fully passes. In divination, Wei Ji appeared at beginnings disguised as endings, at moments requiring sustained care precisely when completion seems near.
The Image Text offers guidance for Homer's farmer: "Fire over water: the image of the condition Before Completion. Thus the superior one is careful in the differentiation of things, so that each finds its place." The veteran must carefully distinguish his new role from his old, must find where the soldier ends and the farmer begins. In the I-Ching sequence, Wei Ji occupies the final position, yet the text immediately loops back to hexagram 1's Creative—suggesting that completion and beginning are phases in continuous transformation rather than fixed endpoints. The scythe swings, wheat falls, the field slowly empties. Almost across.
Yilin Verse
忠慢未習，單酒糗脯。數至神前，欲求所顧，反得大患。
Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — Unchanging verse for 未濟 (Wei Ji)
Character-by-Character Breakdown
Classical Chinese text with pinyin and English meanings