In love
In a couple, Jie evokes the calm that follows tension: talk about it briefly, forgive, and do not reopen the subject over and over.
Hexagram 40
I Ching hexagram 40: Deliverance (Jie)
Jie means deliverance, a knot coming undone: tension eases, and it is better not to linger before moving on.
- relief
- untying
- fresh start
The essentials
Jie at a glance
For you, Jie describes a loosening: a difficulty loses its grip, and it is time to move on without dwelling on it.
A strength
A resolution that frees energy: you can set off again lighter, with what the ordeal taught you.
Something to watch
Going back again and again to what is settled, or dozing on the momentum before consolidating.
- What it advises
- Settle quickly what remains, close without resentment, then leave behind what is untied.
- Its opposite
- 37. The Family (Jia ren)
The situation
Jie places Water beneath Thunder: the storm breaks, rain falls, and the tension in the air dissolves. After the obstruction of Jian comes deliverance.
The Judgment points once more toward the southwest, open ground. If nothing remains to be undertaken, the good outcome is to return to the usual order; if something remains to be done, it is to carry it out early.
The hexagram invites you to take advantage of the relief to quickly settle what remains, to close without resentment, and then not to go back looking at what is untied: a door that has been closed does not need to be reopened to check that it is shut.
The image: Thunder above Water
- AboveThunder: the shock that awakens
- BelowWater: the risky passage
Thunder above Water: the storm pouring out its rain. For the commentary, the image recalls clemency: forgive faults and handle failings gently, so that the air can clear.
Consult the I Ching
Throw three coins six times: your hexagram, the lines that change, and the direction they point to.
Free, no account · nothing is sent · no predictions
The six lines
- 1st line (bottom) · brokenAt the beginning of deliverance, nothing to reproach: the difficulty has already begun to ease.
- 2nd line · solidThree foxes caught in the hunt, golden arrows obtained: integrity rewarded, a favorable sign.
- 3rd line · brokenA man carrying a burden who rides in a carriage: he attracts thieves. Showing too much ease with what you have risks losing it.
- 4th line · solidFreeing yourself from what clings to your toes: friends come, and trust becomes mutual. Detaching from what holds you back lets help arrive.
- 5th line · brokenThe person of worth sets aside what does harm: a good outcome, and even ordinary people trust them. A deliverance that brings people together.
- 6th line (top) · brokenA prince shoots at a hawk perched on a high wall and hits it: everything becomes passable. Removing the last obstacle that threatened.
Jie in your life
At work
Professionally, Jie describes the end of a blockage: a problem that gets resolved, which you must conclude without dragging before setting off again.
The I Ching helps you reflect on how to act: it does not say what is coming.
How is it built?
- Character
- 解 (jiě)
- Number
- 40 in the King Wen sequence
- Trigrams
- Thunder (震) above, Water (坎) below
- Inner hexagram
- 63. After Completion (Ji ji) (lines 2 to 4 and 3 to 5)
- Read upside down
- 39. Obstruction (Jian)
- Symbol
- ䷧ (U+4DE7)
The English names are the usual renderings of the Chinese characters; the texts rely on the Chinese and on early public-domain translations (Legge, 1882; Philastre, 1885–1893).
Sources
- Wikipedia (English), “List of hexagrams of the I Ching,” read on October 15, 2026: numbers, characters, pinyin, lower and upper trigrams.
- Wikipedia (English), “Bagua,” read on October 15, 2026: lines of the eight trigrams, from bottom to top.
- James Legge (1815–1897), The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI, 1882 (Wikisource): public domain.
- Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre (1837–1902), Le Yi King ou Livre des changements de la dynastie des Tsheou, Annales du Musée Guimet, 1885–1893: public domain (the author died more than 70 years ago).
Frequently asked questions about hexagram 40
What does I Ching hexagram 40 mean?
Hexagram 40, Jie, means deliverance: the moment when tension unties and you can set off again without lingering over the ordeal.
How are Jie and Jian related?
The two figures are reversals of each other. Jian is the obstruction that stops, Jie the release that follows. They are often read one after the other.