損
“Diminishing” — King Wen #41
Sincere decrease. Give up something real now, and the loss becomes gain.
The Judgment 卦辞
有孚，元吉，無咎，可貞，利有攸往。曷之用？二簋可用享。
In (what is denoted by) Sun, if there be sincerity (in him who employs it), there will be great good fortune:--freedom from error; firmness and correctness that can be maintained; and advantage in every movement that shall be made. In what shall this (sincerity in the exercise of Sun) be employed? (Even) in sacrifice two baskets of grain, (though there be nothing else), may be presented.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
已事遄往，無咎；酌損之。
The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject suspending his own affairs, and hurrying away (to help the subject of the fourth line). He will commit no error, but let him consider how far he should contribute of what is his (for the other).
利貞，征凶；弗損益之。
The second NINE, undivided, shows that it will be advantageous for its subject to maintain a firm correctness, and that action on his part will be evil. He can give increase (to his correlate) without taking from himself
三人行，則損一人；一人行，則得其友。
The third SIX, divided, shows how of three men walking together, the number is diminished by one; and how one, walking, finds his friend.
損其疾，使遄有喜，無咎。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject diminishing the ailment under which he labours by making (the subject of the first line) hasten (to his help), and make him glad. There will be no error.
或益之十朋之龜，弗克違，元吉。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows parties adding to (the stores of) its subject ten pairs of tortoise shells, and accepting no refusal. There will be great good fortune.
弗損益之，無咎。貞吉，利有攸往，得臣無家。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject giving increase to others without taking from himself. There will be no error. With firm correctness there will be good fortune. There will be advantage in every movement that shall be made. He will find ministers more than can be counted by their clans.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 41 places lake (兑) beneath mountain (艮) —joy lifting what it touches below, stillness holding its ground above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Diminishing”:sincere decrease. Give up something real now, and the loss becomes gain Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 41
What does 損 (sǔn) mean?
Hexagram 41 of the I Ching is named 損 (sǔn), usually rendered "Diminishing" in English editions. Its figure pairs lake (兑) below with mountain (艮) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 41?
艮 (Mountain) sits above and 兑 (Lake) sits below — the classical picture is joy lifting what it touches beneath stillness holding its ground.
How is hexagram 41 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 41 gives hexagram 31 — 咸 (Conjoining). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 42 — 益 (Augmenting). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 24 — 復 (Returning).
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1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.