Hexagram 41
Decrease
損 (Sǔn)
Mountain over Lake
Hexagram 41 represents the principle of decrease as a necessary path to increase. This hexagram symbolizes the wisdom of simplification, sacrifice, and letting go of the unnecessary to strengthen what truly matters. Like a mountain standing above a lake, decrease below creates stability above. Through voluntary reduction and sincere offering, we create space for genuine growth and spiritual advancement. The hexagram teaches that sometimes less is more, and that strategic reduction of excess leads to essential strength and authentic prosperity in all endeavors.
Key Concepts
The Judgment (卦辞)
曷之用？二簋可用享。
Translation: "Decrease combined with sincerity brings about supreme good fortune without blame. One may be persevering in this. It furthers one to undertake something. How is this to be carried out? One may use two small bowls for the sacrifice."
Hexagram 41 reveals the profound truth that decrease, when approached with sincerity and proper understanding, becomes a pathway to supreme good fortune. This hexagram teaches us that voluntary simplification and strategic reduction are not losses but investments in what truly matters. The ancient wisdom here emphasizes that authentic decrease must come from genuine conviction rather than forced deprivation. When we decrease the lower to benefit the higher, reduce the external to strengthen the internal, or simplify the complex to reveal the essential, we align ourselves with natural law. The reference to using simple bowls for sacrifice illustrates that sincerity of intention matters infinitely more than lavishness of offering or complexity of approach.
The hexagram further instructs that decrease should be purposeful and directed toward meaningful goals. This is not about random reduction or asceticism for its own sake, but rather intelligent simplification that creates space for what is essential to flourish. Like pruning a tree to strengthen its growth, we remove excess to concentrate vital energy where it can produce the greatest benefit. The wisdom of decrease lies in recognizing that abundance often comes through subtraction rather than addition, and that true wealth emerges when we eliminate what drains our resources and attention from our core purposes and highest values.
The Image (大象传)
君子以惩忿窒欲。
Translation: "At the foot of the mountain, the lake: the image of Decrease. Thus the superior person controls his anger and restrains his instincts."
The image of the lake at the foot of the mountain presents a powerful natural metaphor for the principle of decrease. The lake's waters evaporate upward, decreasing below to form clouds above the mountain, which eventually return as rain to nourish the earth. This natural cycle demonstrates that decrease in one area creates increase in another, and that what appears as loss is actually transformation and redistribution of energy. The superior person observes this natural principle and applies it to personal cultivation by decreasing negative emotions and excessive desires. By controlling anger, we decrease destructive energy and increase inner peace. By restraining excessive instincts, we decrease scattered impulses and increase focused power and clarity of purpose.
This teaching emphasizes that true self-mastery comes through strategic decrease of what diminishes us rather than constant addition of external achievements. The work of controlling anger and restraining desire is not suppression but transformation, converting raw emotional energy into refined wisdom and strength. Just as the mountain stands firm while the lake below remains calm, we develop unshakeable stability by decreasing inner turbulence. This practice of voluntary decrease in the realm of emotions and desires creates the foundation for genuine increase in character, wisdom, and spiritual attainment that no external circumstance can diminish or take away from us.
The Six Lines (六爻)
Nine at the Beginning (初九)
Bottom line - Yang
"Going quickly when one's tasks are finished brings no blame. But one must reflect on how much one may decrease others."
This line teaches the importance of helping others while being mindful of your own limits and their independence. When you have completed your own responsibilities, offering assistance is appropriate and brings no blame. However, you must carefully consider how much to decrease your own resources to help others. Give generously but wisely, ensuring your assistance truly helps rather than creates dependency. Balance compassion with discernment, knowing when your help empowers others and when it might inadvertently weaken them by doing too much on their behalf.
Nine in the Second Place (九二)
Second line - Yang
"Perseverance furthers. To undertake something brings misfortune. Without decreasing oneself, one is able to bring about increase."
This line reveals a crucial principle: maintain your essential strength and integrity rather than diminishing yourself. Perseverance in preserving your core values and resources is beneficial, while aggressive action or self-sacrifice at this time would lead to misfortune. You can benefit others and create positive outcomes without depleting yourself. Stand firm in your position, maintain your standards, and you will naturally contribute to increase without harmful decrease. Your stability itself becomes a gift to others, demonstrating that sometimes the greatest contribution is simply remaining strong and centered.
Six in the Third Place (六三)
Third line - Yin
"When three people journey together, their number decreases by one. When one person journeys alone, he finds a companion."
This line teaches about the power of focused relationships and clear partnerships. When too many people attempt to work together without clear roles, conflict and confusion decrease effectiveness, and someone must step aside. However, when you proceed with clarity of purpose and sincerity, you naturally attract the right companion or partner. Quality of connection matters more than quantity. Decrease superficial associations to increase depth of meaningful relationships. In both personal and professional contexts, seek genuine partnership based on shared vision rather than collecting numerous shallow connections that dilute focus and energy.
Six in the Fourth Place (六四)
Fourth line - Yin
"If a man decreases his faults, it makes the other hasten to come and rejoice. No blame."
This line emphasizes personal improvement through decreasing negative qualities and habits. When you actively work to reduce your faults, weaknesses, and harmful patterns, others naturally respond with joy and support. This self-correction creates positive momentum that attracts beneficial relationships and opportunities. Focus on eliminating what diminishes you—bad habits, negative thinking, harmful behaviors—and you will find that good fortune hastens to meet you. The work of self-improvement through strategic decrease of faults is always appropriate and brings no blame, only increasing benefits and strengthening connections with others who appreciate your growth.
Six in the Fifth Place (六五)
Fifth line - Yin
"Someone does indeed increase him. Ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it. Supreme good fortune."
The ruler's line reveals that sincere decrease naturally attracts supreme increase from unexpected sources. When you have genuinely simplified and reduced with proper intention, the universe responds with blessings so powerful that nothing can prevent them. The reference to ten pairs of tortoises—extremely valuable divination tools—suggests that this good fortune is so certain that even the most authoritative sources would confirm it. Your voluntary decrease has created such alignment with natural law that increase flows to you inevitably. Trust this process completely and receive the blessings with gratitude and humility.
Nine at the Top (上九)
Top line - Yang
"If one is increased without decreasing others, there is no blame. Perseverance brings good fortune. It furthers one to undertake something. One obtains servants but no longer has a separate home."
The top line represents the culmination where decrease transforms into pure increase without requiring further sacrifice. You have reached a position where you can benefit others and grow yourself simultaneously without diminishing anyone. Persevere in this generous approach and good fortune is certain. Undertake new ventures with confidence, as you now have the support and assistance needed for success. The reference to obtaining servants but having no separate home suggests that your sphere of influence expands so greatly that distinctions between personal and collective benefit dissolve—your success becomes inseparable from the success of all those connected to you.
Love & Relationships (爱情)
In matters of love and relationships, hexagram 41 teaches the profound wisdom that sometimes decreasing demands and expectations actually increases intimacy and connection. This is a time to simplify your relationship by letting go of unnecessary complications, unrealistic expectations, or excessive emotional drama that drains the partnership. Focus on what is essential—genuine care, honest communication, and mutual respect—while releasing petty grievances, controlling behaviors, or the need to be right. By decreasing conflict and increasing acceptance, you create space for love to flourish naturally. For those in established relationships, consider what you can release to strengthen your bond: perhaps excessive criticism, constant demands for attention, or the accumulation of resentments that weigh down your connection.
For singles seeking love, this hexagram suggests that decreasing desperation and neediness will increase your attractiveness and the quality of potential partners you encounter. Work on reducing emotional baggage from past relationships, simplifying your list of requirements to focus on truly important qualities, and decreasing the frantic energy of searching. When you decrease anxiety about finding love, you increase your natural magnetism and openness to genuine connection. This is also an excellent time to decrease superficial dating and increase depth by focusing on fewer, more meaningful interactions. Quality over quantity applies powerfully in romantic pursuits during this period of decrease.
The hexagram also addresses the importance of decreasing selfishness to increase partnership harmony. Examine where you might be taking too much or giving too little in your relationships. Strategic decrease of self-centered behavior—such as always insisting on your preferences, monopolizing conversation, or prioritizing your needs exclusively—creates space for balanced give-and-take. In conflicts, decrease your attachment to winning arguments and increase your commitment to understanding your partner's perspective. Remember that the goal is not self-sacrifice but intelligent simplification that strengthens the relationship's foundation. By voluntarily decreasing ego and increasing empathy, you transform relationship dynamics from competitive to collaborative, creating lasting intimacy built on mutual support and genuine care.
Career & Business (事业)
Professionally, hexagram 41 signals a crucial time for strategic simplification and focusing your career energy on what truly matters. This is the moment to decrease scattered efforts across too many projects and increase concentrated excellence in your core competencies. Examine your professional commitments and eliminate activities that drain time and energy without producing proportional results. Decrease meetings that accomplish little, decrease involvement in office politics, and decrease tasks that could be delegated or eliminated entirely. By simplifying your professional focus, you increase your effectiveness and create space for genuine advancement in areas that align with your strengths and long-term goals. This principle of strategic decrease applies whether you are an employee seeking promotion or an entrepreneur building a business.
For business owners and entrepreneurs, hexagram 41 offers powerful guidance about sustainable growth through simplification. This is an excellent time to decrease product lines to focus on your most profitable offerings, decrease operational complexity to increase efficiency, or decrease your customer base to focus on ideal clients who truly value your services. Counterintuitively, decreasing the scope of your business often increases profitability and satisfaction. Examine where you have expanded beyond your capacity to maintain quality, and have the courage to contract strategically. Decrease overhead expenses, simplify processes, and eliminate services or products that complicate operations without contributing significantly to your bottom line. This focused approach increases both profit margins and your ability to deliver exceptional value.
The hexagram also emphasizes decreasing ego and increasing collaboration in professional settings. Reduce the need to receive credit for every contribution, decrease competitive behavior with colleagues, and increase genuine teamwork and knowledge sharing. By decreasing self-promotion and increasing authentic value creation, you paradoxically increase your professional reputation and opportunities for advancement. Leaders should decrease authoritarian control and increase empowerment of team members, trusting that strategic decrease of micromanagement increases overall team performance and innovation. In negotiations and business dealings, decrease aggressive tactics and increase sincere, straightforward communication. The simple, honest approach often achieves better results than complex strategies, and builds lasting professional relationships that become invaluable assets throughout your career journey.
Health & Wellness (健康)
In health and wellness, hexagram 41 provides essential guidance about healing through reduction and simplification. This is a powerful time to decrease harmful habits, excessive consumption, and lifestyle complexity that undermines your vitality. Focus on decreasing intake of substances that deplete your health—whether excessive sugar, alcohol, caffeine, or processed foods—and increase consumption of simple, nourishing whole foods. The principle of decrease applies powerfully to diet: often we improve health not by adding supplements and superfoods, but by eliminating what harms us. Decrease portion sizes if you have been overeating, decrease late-night eating to improve sleep, and decrease mindless snacking to increase awareness of true hunger and satiety signals. Simplification of diet often produces remarkable health improvements.
For physical fitness and exercise, this hexagram suggests that decreasing excessive or punishing workout routines may actually increase overall health and sustainable fitness. If you have been overtraining, decrease intensity or frequency to allow proper recovery, which paradoxically increases strength and performance. Decrease complex exercise programs that you cannot maintain consistently, and increase simple, sustainable movement practices like walking, stretching, or basic strength training that you can perform regularly without burnout. The wisdom here is that consistency with simple practices produces better long-term results than sporadic intense efforts. Decrease the all-or-nothing mentality about fitness and increase gentle, regular movement that supports rather than stresses your body.
Mental and emotional health particularly benefit from the principle of decrease during this hexagram's influence. Decrease exposure to stressful news, social media, and toxic relationships that drain your emotional energy and increase anxiety. Simplify your schedule by decreasing commitments that do not truly serve your wellbeing or align with your values. Decrease multitasking and increase single-pointed focus on one activity at a time, which reduces mental stress and increases presence and satisfaction. Practice decreasing negative self-talk and harsh self-judgment, increasing instead self-compassion and acceptance. Decrease stimulation and increase rest, recognizing that adequate sleep and downtime are not luxuries but necessities for optimal health. By strategically decreasing what depletes you, you create space for genuine restoration and vitality to increase naturally.
Financial Matters (财运)
Financially, hexagram 41 teaches the counterintuitive wisdom that decreasing expenses and simplifying your financial life often increases wealth more effectively than constantly seeking higher income. This is an ideal time to conduct a thorough review of your spending and eliminate unnecessary expenses that drain resources without providing proportional value or satisfaction. Decrease subscription services you rarely use, decrease impulse purchases by implementing waiting periods before buying, and decrease lifestyle inflation that keeps pace with income increases. By decreasing spending on things that do not truly enhance your life, you increase available resources for saving, investing, and purchasing what genuinely matters. The practice of voluntary simplicity often reveals how much we spend on things we do not need or even want, freeing substantial resources for building real wealth.
For investment and wealth building, this hexagram suggests decreasing complexity and increasing focus on simple, proven strategies. Decrease speculative investments and risky ventures in favor of steady, reliable wealth accumulation through diversified index funds, real estate, or other time-tested approaches. Decrease the number of investment accounts and financial products you manage, consolidating to simplify oversight and reduce fees. Decrease emotional reactions to market fluctuations and increase disciplined, consistent investing regardless of short-term volatility. The wisdom of decrease in finance often means doing less—fewer trades, fewer complex strategies, fewer attempts to time the market—while increasing patience and allowing compound growth to work its magic over time. Simple, consistent approaches typically outperform complex strategies over the long term.
The hexagram also addresses decreasing debt and financial obligations to increase freedom and security. Prioritize decreasing high-interest debt aggressively, even if it means temporarily decreasing other financial goals. Decrease reliance on credit and increase use of cash or debit for purchases, which naturally reduces overspending. Decrease financial commitments that lock you into long-term obligations without clear benefit, increasing instead your financial flexibility and options. If you are in business, decrease accounts receivable by improving collection processes, and decrease inventory or overhead that ties up capital. By strategically decreasing financial complexity and obligations, you increase your financial resilience, reduce stress, and create a stronger foundation for sustainable prosperity. Remember that true wealth is not just about how much you earn but how much you keep and how wisely you deploy resources.
Personal Growth (个人成长)
For personal growth and spiritual development, hexagram 41 reveals that advancement often comes through subtraction rather than addition. This is a powerful time to decrease the accumulation of knowledge, techniques, and practices in favor of deepening what you already know. Many seekers collect spiritual teachings, self-help books, and personal development programs without fully implementing any single approach. Decrease this consumption and increase application of core principles you have already learned. Simplify your spiritual practice to a few essential techniques performed consistently rather than sampling many approaches superficially. Decrease the search for the next breakthrough method and increase commitment to mastering fundamental practices like meditation, journaling, or contemplation. Depth of practice produces transformation; breadth of knowledge without application produces only intellectual understanding.
The hexagram also teaches about decreasing the false self to increase authentic being. Examine the personas, masks, and pretenses you maintain in different contexts, and work to decrease this exhausting performance. Decrease the need to impress others, decrease pretending to be more knowledgeable or accomplished than you are, and decrease hiding your true thoughts and feelings behind socially acceptable facades. By decreasing inauthenticity, you increase genuine self-expression and attract relationships and opportunities that align with your true nature. This process of decreasing the false self requires courage but produces profound liberation and increased life satisfaction. You discover that being genuinely yourself, even with imperfections visible, is far less exhausting and more rewarding than maintaining elaborate pretenses.
Finally, hexagram 41 guides us to decrease attachment and increase acceptance as a path to inner peace and wisdom. Decrease clinging to outcomes, decrease resistance to what is, and decrease the constant mental commentary that judges every experience as good or bad. Increase instead the capacity to observe life without immediately reacting, to accept circumstances while still working skillfully to improve them, and to find equanimity amid changing conditions. Decrease the belief that happiness depends on external circumstances arranging themselves according to your preferences, and increase the recognition that peace comes from inner stability regardless of outer conditions. This practice of strategic decrease in the realm of attachment and resistance produces the greatest increase of all: genuine freedom, unshakeable peace, and the wisdom to navigate life's inevitable changes with grace and effectiveness.
Timing & Advice (时机与建议)
The timing of hexagram 41 calls for voluntary simplification and strategic reduction across all areas of life. This is not a period for expansion, acquisition, or adding complexity, but rather for thoughtful elimination of what no longer serves your highest good. The universe supports your efforts to simplify, streamline, and focus on essentials during this time. Approach decrease with sincerity and clear intention rather than resentment or deprivation. Understand that you are not losing but rather concentrating your energy and resources where they can produce the greatest benefit. This is an excellent time to declutter physical spaces, simplify schedules, reduce commitments, and eliminate habits or relationships that drain without replenishing. Trust that strategic decrease creates space for what truly matters to flourish and grow stronger.
The hexagram advises approaching decrease with the attitude of offering rather than sacrifice. When you decrease expenses, view it as offering resources to your future security. When you decrease time spent on trivial activities, view it as offering time to meaningful pursuits. When you decrease anger or desire, view it as offering peace to yourself and others. This reframing transforms decrease from deprivation into purposeful investment. The ancient wisdom of using simple bowls for sacrifice reminds us that sincerity of intention matters infinitely more than scale of action. Small, sincere decreases performed consistently produce greater results than dramatic but unsustainable changes. Focus on what you can maintain long-term rather than extreme temporary measures.
Finally, trust that voluntary decrease undertaken with proper understanding naturally leads to increase. This is a fundamental principle of natural law: the tree pruned grows stronger, the business focused on core competencies becomes more profitable, the person who eliminates bad habits gains vitality and opportunity. Do not decrease out of fear or scarcity mentality, but from wisdom and abundance consciousness that recognizes you are eliminating what clutters your life to make room for what enriches it. Persevere in this path of simplification with confidence that you are aligning with deep wisdom. The supreme good fortune promised by this hexagram comes to those who embrace decrease sincerely, understanding that sometimes the greatest growth comes through letting go of what we thought we needed but actually only weighs us down.